AN E S S AY 

ON 

THE DRUIDS, 



THE ANCIENT CHURCHES, 

AND 

THE ROUND TOWERS 

OF IRELAND. 



BY 

THE REV. RICHARD SMIDDY. 

ii - 



" Antiquam exquirite matrem" 
" Search out J^crSBRie»t_. mother." 




DUBLIN: 

W. B. KELLY, 8, GRAFTON-STREET. 
LONDON : SIMPKIN, MARSHALL & CO. 
1871. 

[all rights reserved.] 



BROWNE AND NOLAN, PRINTERS, NASSAU-STREET, DUBLIN. 



pEDICATION, 



TO THE CELTIC RACE, ALL OVER THE WORLD, 



THE FOLLOWING ESSAY 



IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED 



BY 



THE WRITER. 



PREFACE. 



WHATEVER may be the character of the follow- 
ing Essay, it is the result of considerable study 
and inquiry. In the first place, the subjects of 
which it treats could never be approached with- 
out a knowledge of the Celtic language. That, 
in itself, would require the labour and applica- 
tion of much time. There are, and have been, 
distinguished antiquaries in Ireland w 7 ho could 
not pronounce a single sentence in the Irish 
language. Yet, to know that language well, 
without being able to speak it, is an utter impos- 
sibility ; for it is essentially more a language of 
the tongue than of the letter. 

It was once the speech of a vast number of the 
human race. Probably, it was the first language 
spoken by man. At the present day fragments 
of it are found in most countries of the world, 
even in India and among the original tribes of 
America. No language has left more extensive 
traces of its existence on the face of Europe than 



vi 



PREFACE. 



the Celtic. It is indelibly engraved there in the 
names of rivers, cities, lakes, and mountains, as 
well as in the frame-work of the modern lan- 
guages. Perhaps, even, imperial Rome itself owes 
its name to it, whatever ancient writers may say 
on the subject. In the Celtic language Ruimi- 
neach means a swamp, or marsh, a feature which, 
certainly, ancient Roma exhibited, and of which 
there remain clear traces to this day. It is an 
incontrovertible fact that the old languages of 
Rome and Greece drew largely on the Celtic for 
their component materials. 

This ancient tongue is now on the point of 
dying out, even in Ireland which was its last 
resting place, just as, centuries ago, it disappeared 
in other countries under the dissolving influence 
of invasion and the introduction of foreign lin- 
gual elements. The language to which the 
ancient Bards strung their harps, and which 
flowed with such grace from the lips of fair 
lady, brave chief, and Druidical sage, is now 
soon about to take its departure for ever. This, 
in itself, may be a reason for endeavouring to 
raise even an humble monument out of it before 
it disappears altogether, Without its assistance 
the subject of the Druids could never be ade- 



PREFACE. 



vii 



quately handled, the names of the Churches 
would remain a mystery, and the key to the 
cipher of the Round Tower would be lost for 
ever. With respect to these Towers, perhaps 
the most interesting subject of the Essay, the 
present theory touches a cord which was never 
struck before. That it is the true one, the 
writer is perfectly confident. If it be so, success 
must not speak or think disparagingly of those' 
who went before.it in this inquiry. Nor should 
obligations be unacknowledged. The progress of 
the voyage into remote antiquity is often slow 
and difficult, and, to be successful, requires the 
light and assistance derived from the labours 
even of those who have failed in the attempt at 
discovery themselves. 

Aghada, on the Harbour of Queenstown. 
April, 1 87 1. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

CHAPTER I.— The Druids i 

CHAPTER II.— The Druids (continued) ... 67 

CHAPTER III.— The Ancient Churches of 

Ireland 142 

CHAPTER IV.— The Round Towers of Ireland . 186 



ESSAY 

ON THE 

DRUIDS, ANCIENT CHURCHES, 
AND ROUND TOWERS 

OF IRELAND. 

CHAPTER I. 



THE DRUIDS. 

The Derivation and Meaning of the name, Druid.— 
The Meaning of the names, Celts and Scots, and 

WPIAT COUNTRIES THEY ORIGINALLY CAME FROM.— THE 

Meaning of the name, Gallus, or Gaul. — The Mean- 
ing OF THE NAME, GOTH. — THE LANGUAGE OF THE CELTS. 

— The Religious System of the Druids. — The Gods of 
the Druids. — The Names of the Gods given to the 
days of the week, which are still called after them 
in the Irish and other Languages. — Human Sacri- 
fices of the Druids. — Their Temples and Altars. — 
Their Votive Offerings of the spoils taken from the 
enemy. — The Dallan, or Pillar-stone. — The Chief 
Seat, or Meeting-place of the Druids in Ireland. — 
Monuments of the Druids. — The Ogham Writing. — 
The Lia-fail, called the Stone of Destiny. — The 
folach fladh, or cooking tub.— the brewing vat 
and Mill — The Brugh, or Burying Mound — The 
Houses and Habitations of the Druids and Celts. — 
The Rath.— The Lios. — The Dun. — The Teajuhair. — 

The Caisoil. — The Cathair. — The Palas The Cro. — 

The Crannog and Curach. 

When the first Christian Missionary landed in 
Ireland he found the Druids and their religion 
strongly established there. The Druids were the 
priests of the ancient Celts. The word Druid is 
formed from the Irish name, Draoi (pronounced 

B 



2 



THE DRUIDS. 



Dhree), which is believed to be a compound of 
the words dair y "oak," and ai y " learned or wise," 
that is, the learned or wise man of the oak. 
The oak was held in great veneration by the 
Druids. Under its branches, on the mountain tops 
and in the deep valleys, were performed the rites 
and mysteries of their religion ; and it was in the 
woods and wilds they and their people sojourned 
while leading a roving life and subsisting on their 
flocks, during the early periods of their history. 

It appears that the Celts were a branch or 
colony, sprung from ancient Scythia. A wan- 
dering hardy people were the Scythians, who, 
disdaining to live in cities or towns, moved about 
from one place to another with their families and 
their flocks. In the course of ages they spread 
over a large portion of Asia, and even occupied 
many countries of Europe. 

The name, Scuit, " Scots," assumed by these 
people, was derived from Sciot, " an arrow or 
dart." It appears that, true to their traditions 
and warlike name, the nobles of that race, on all 
occasions of public ceremony, always carried the 
bow and the arrows as a necessary part of their 
personal outfit. The name of Scythians, which 
the Greek and Latin writers bestowed on the an- 
cient tribes of this race, was derived from the 
same root. The Scots of Ireland and Scotland 
were called Scoti in modern Latin. 

A large territory on the eastern and western 



THE DRUIDS. 



3 



shores of the Euxine, in Asia, and in Europe, 
obtained the name of Scythia, from the presence 
there, for many ages, of an early colony of this 
warlike race. Herodotus states that they had 
come there from the borders of the Red Sea, 
from which, according to other authorities, they 
had been expelled by one of the Pharoahs for their 
kindness to the oppressed Israelites. Josephus 
says, they were the descendants of Magog, son of 
Japheth, son of Noah. His words are : — " Magog 
led out a colony which, from him, were called 
Magogites, but by the Greeks called Scythians/' 
Among the first important colonies of these 
hardy Scythians, was that which they planted in 
ancient Phoenicia, a country situated in Asia, on 
the eastern shores of the Mediterranean. Here 
the Scythian intellect found employment in trade 
and commerce, and the arts of civilized life, which 
were pushed with wonderful energy by them to 
all parts of the then known world. By this 
means new colonies, sprung from the Scythian 
blood, were planted at Carthage, Hippo, Mar- 
seilles, Utica, and other places favourable to 
commerce. The Celts of Ireland claimed a 
brotherhood with all those descended from Phoe- 
nicia, and in consequence of that claim, one of 
the names assumed by them was that of Feinne, 
or Fianaidhe (Fenii, or Fenians), just as the name 
Peni or Pkeni, was given to the Carthaginians, 
from the same root, Phcenicus, or Phoenician. 



4 



THE DRUIDS. 



Phoenicia means the country of the Phcenians or 
Fenians ; but it is not absolutely known what is 
the root or meaning of the word Phoenian itself. 
Some think it is derived from the Celtic word 
Feine, "a warrior" or husbandman, while some 
of the Greek and Latin writers say it came from 
Phoenix, one of their kings, or perhaps from the 
Greek word Phoinikes^dlm trees, which were very 
abundant in their country. It is, however, more 
likely that the word is of Celtic origin, and that 
Feine, a warrior, is the root of it. Thus Sciot 
and Feine would mean the same thing, that is, 
a person expert at hurling the dart, according to 
the first name, and a warrior according to the 
other. It is likely that the ancient Irish militia, 
of which Fionn MacCubhail was a prominent 
commander, took the name of Feinne or Fhian- 
aidhe, from this word, which indicated a high and 
distinguished origin of the Celtic race in Ireland. 

The Druidical nations were designated by the 
general name of Celtse or Celts. By the ancient 
Greek and Roman writers this term is applied to 
the descendants of a powerful and warlike peo- 
ple, whose known origin is traced to the eastern 
and western shores of the Euxine, in Asia and 
in Europe. It is not known whether the word 
Celtae (originally and properly pronounced Keltce), 
was of foreign invention, or whether it was 
formed from a name which, in their own lan- 
guage, these people had assumed and applied to 



THE DRUIDS. 



5 



themselves. Some derive it from Celsus, a great 
personage, on whose character and origin the 
ancient writers are not agreed. Others derive 
it from Geilty which means a wild man or inha- 
bitant of the woods. Coill is a wood, and coil- 
tacky an inhabitant of the woods. In certain 
cases of the plural number, coiltach changes to 
gailtig, or geiltig ; and hence, it is said, was 
formed the name Celtse, bestowed on these peo- 
ple. But if the word is to be regarded as of 
native origin, it is scarcely credible that a proud 
and powerful people would have applied to them- 
selves the character of wild men of the woods. 

Another interpretation, more flattering to the 
pride of this ancient race, is not without its ad- 
vocates and its plausibility. Caesar says the 
Celts believed that they were born of the Deity, 
or descended from God as their father, and that 
this belief was handed down to them by the 
Druids. We shall hereafter see that in Ireland 
they were called by the name of Tuatha-De- 
Danan, that is, the princes or descendants of 
Dia-tene-ion (god the fire-god), by which was 
meant the sun. In the Celtic language ceal (pro- 
nounced kal) means the heavens, and ceallach, or 
cealtach f signifies a person of the heavens, or a 
heavenly person. Here, then, in the word 
cealtachy a heavenly person, we have the root 
of the name Celtae, given to these people by the 
ancient Greek and Latin writers. The name by 



6 



THE DRUIDS. 



which the Irish have always called themselves is 
Gaoidhiel, or Gaoidhallagh, a word which is pro- 
nounced with perfect accuracy by the Irish- 
speaking people of this country, but the sound 
of which cannot be adequately conveyed in any 
combination of English letters or words. It is not 
Geeal, nor Geelloach, but something in that direc- 
tion, which the pen alone could never produce. 
Now, Gaoidhallagh appears to be formed from 
gaol, "a relative," and ceallagh, "a person of the 
heavens,"or heavenly, that is, a relative of the celes- 
tials, or, in other words, of the Celts. This interpre- 
tation is strengthened by the authority of those 
very ancient writers, who say that the word Celtse 
came from Celsus, who was descended fromCoelus 
or Uranus. Uranus seems to be formed from 
the Celtic words Ur, "the sun," and An, "man." 
The words Kelleach, Keltae, and Kelsus, are 
evidently of the same root and family. 

If this be the true interpretation of the name, 
it asserts a high and honourable origin for the 
Celts; and it is difficult to say who may not 
participate in the honour, for the descendants of 
that great race are scattered over many of the 
countries of the globe. It also establishes the 
inference that there is something more than a 
poetic licence in the language which calls these 
children of the. sun, " fiery Celts." Possibly those 
nations that preserved and fostered traditions of 
their own celestial or divine origin, such as the 



THE DRUIDS. 



7 



native Peruvians, the Chinese, and also the 
Athenians, or ancient Greeks, according to the 
words of their poets, as quoted by St Paul, were 
early distant branches, springing from the great 
Cealtach, or Celtic root. The celestial mother 
of the Peruvians, whose name and memory their 
tradition preserved, was called in their language 
Mama Oello. How much this resembles the 
Celtic words Mam Ceallach, "heavenly mother!'' 
Mama, in the Peruvian language, means "mother." 
In the Celtic it is Mam; in the Hebrew Am. 
The Mexicans, Peruvians, and most of the Ame- 
rican tribes, were worshippers of the sun; and 
among them were found many fragments of the 
Celtic language. 

The Latin word Gallus, a Gaul, was manifestly 
derived from the Celtic name Gaoidhallach, 
which, according to this very plausible interpre- 
tation, means a relative or descendant of the 
Celestials or Celts. In Ireland the word Gall, 
or Galluv, means foreigners. This by some is 
derived from the Latin Galli, Gauls, or inhabit- 
ants of France. It is, however, formed from the 
Celtic words gal y or gael y " kindred," and all, 
" foreign," that is, of the tribe of the strangers or 
foreigners, just as Gaoidhael means "of the 
tribe of the Celestials," or Celts. In Ireland the 
word Gall was applied to foreigners in general, 
and settled, in a particular manner, on Gallic 
foreign invaders, because the Danes or North- 



8 



THE DRUIDS. 



men, who had founded a settlement in France, 
or ancient Gaul, often at one period sent hostile 
expeditions from that country to Ireland. The 
fond name of Goadhael was, however, shared 
with the kindred nations of Scotland, Wales, 
and even England, till this last country became 
either the nursery or the high road of the inva- 
der, and then its people were called by the 
general appellation of Gall, or Gaulliv. In later 
times the English have been called Sasson or 
Sassonig. The Scotch Albanig, and the Welsh 
Breanig. 

It would appear that the name Goth is 
a corruption or inflection of the word Scuit. 
By the ancient writers the Goths are called 
Getas. They comprised the innumerable tribes 
who inhabited the northern countries of Europe, 
and who afterwards flowed in on the Roman 
Empire with irresistible impetuosity. Their 
gods were the gods of the ancient Scots, or 
Scythians, and their religious monuments are 
the same, even as far as the Polar regions. 
Whatever difference of character and of civiliza- 
tion existed between them, the Scots and the 
Goths had the same religious ideas, and were 
distinguished by the same love of arms, of travel, 
and of adventure. 

The language of the Celts, the first perhaps 
spoken by man, is still living in Ireland. It is 
soft, copious, and highly expressive and remark- 



THE DRUIDS. 



9 



able for its great capability of forming beautiful 
compounds from its primitive roots. The Celtic 
language, according to certain authorities, is a 
dialect of the Phoenician tongue, and the Phoe- 
nician was a near relative of the Hebrew. But 
there are some grave writers and scholars who 
think that the Celtic and Phoenician languages 
are older than the Hebrew, are richer and more 
natural, both in primitive roots and in com- 
pounds, and, as having suffered less from foreign 
admixture and subjugation, come nearer to man's 
primitive tongue. The close analogy between 
the Hebrew and the Irish is very remarkable, 
both in the construction of the languages and in 
the words. It is notorious that the Celtic lan- 
guage formed the chief root of the Greek and 
Latin tongues. From Phoenicia Cadmus brought 
the sixteen letters of the alphabet, and the Irish 
language, too, originally possessed only sixteen 
letters. 

This was the language spoken by the Druids, 
and in it, from time immemorial, they per- 
formed the mysteries of their religion, instructed 
the youth in the secrets of their worship, com- 
municated their own knowledge of the arts 
and sciences to their pupils, and promulgated 
law and justice among their people. 

In Ireland there is no existing written record or 
monument from which we could learn the religious 
system of the Druids, and it is most probable 

B 2 



10 



THE DRUIDS. 



that no such record ever existed. How comes 
this ? In the first place, it was an inviolable 
principle with the Druids never to commit their 
religious tenets or belief to writing, though they 
wrote on all other matters concerning themselves 
and their people. In the next place, it was the 
aim and policy of the early Christian missioners 
to withdraw the minds of their converts from 
that system to which the people of the country 
had been so long devoted, and to allow the stern 
and still dreaded belief, with its worship, to sink, 
as soon as possible, into oblivion. Thus no early 
Christian writer here, in all probability, ever oc- 
cupied his pen with the subject, though, as we 
shall see, the names of the different seasons of 
the year, and even of the days of the week, are 
still of Druidical origin in the Irish language. 
Highly probable even it is, that any vestiges or 
remains of Druidism existing in the ancient his- 
torical and legal records of Ireland were indus- 
triously removed when, at the suggestion of St. 
Patrick, about the year 438, as the Annals of the 
Four Masters state, these works were revised and 
purified by a number of learned antiquaries. It 
is collected from other sources that three hundred 
books, tinged with Paganism, were, at this time, 
consigned to destruction. It is from Roman and 
Greek Pagan writers, such as Cassar, Suetonius. 
Pliny, Strabo, Diogenes, Laertius, and Diodorus 
Siculus, we gather the prominent features of the 



THE DRUIDS. 



1 1 



religion and worship of the Druids, as well as a 
knowledge of the position and authority held by 
them among their people. 

The Druidical religion inculcated a belief in 
the existence of a Supreme Ruler. The great ob- 
ject of its worship was Beal, which is a compound 
word formed from Be, "is," and All, "universal," 
that is, the universal Is, or the universal Being. 
The other gods, and even all visible things, were 
regarded as mere emanations of this great spirit. 
Another name of Beal in the Celtic is Alla y or 
Allah, which seems to be formed from All, 
" universal," and Hea, a vocal inflection of Ta, 
"is," that is, the universal Is. There seems to be 
a striking affinity between these Celtic words or 
names and Allah, of the Arabic, and Eloha of 
the Hebrew. And to which of the three lan- 
guages is priority of root, for this name of God, 
to be assigned ? Apparently to the Celtic. The 
Parsees of India, whose original native country 
was Persia, believe, like the ancient Celts, in the 
existence of a universal Being, whose name is 
Bugoion, and of whom they entertain similar 
notions and ideas. 

Though Druidism acknowledged a Supreme 
Being, the system, however, must be regarded 
as a species" of polytheism and idolatry, for it 
included a belief in many gods, and rendered 
divine honours to the sun, moon, stars, and 
planets, and, as it is thought, to many objects 



12 



THE DRUIDS. 



on this earth. The sea, the lake, the wood, the 
mountain, and the river, with many other striking 
objects, received the homage and religious vene- 
ration of the Druids, for they believed that the 
Deity associated himself with everything noble, 
great, and majestic. Thus, it is thought that, by 
way of eminence, they gave the name of Beal to 
the sun, which is the source of light and life, 
and without which all earthly things would be 
motionless and inanimate. If we are to deduce 
a logical conclusion from their principles, it would 
appear that the whole system was a sort of Pan- 
theism, which made almost every object an 
emblem of the Deity, especially those things 
which were remarkable for the possession of very 
good or very bad qualities. 

In his Sixth Book of the Gallic War, Caesar 
says that Mercury was their favourite god, the 
object of their special veneration; and, that after 
him, the honours w r ere rendered to Apollo, Mars, 
Jove, and Minerva. Of these divinities he says 
they had much the same notions as the Romans 
and other nations, by whom they were acknow- 
ledged and worshipped. There is a singular con- 
firmation of what Caesar says respecting the first 
honours as given to Mercury, in the very name 
which that divinity has in the Irish language. 
He is called Dia-Cead-ion (eeou), that is, "god 
the first lord," or "god the first god." How 
he obtained that precedence it is not easy to 



THE DRUIDS. 



13 



conjecture, unless it is that, being the patron of 
strangers and travellers, he was, from time im- 
memorial, invoked by the wandering Scythians, 
as their guide and protector. " Of him," con- 
tinues this Roman writer, "they have many 
images ; they regard him as the inventor of the 
arts, as the guide of the path and of the journey, 
and as their great aid in the trade of money- 
making and commerce." 

Tacitus, writing of the ancient inhabitants of 
Germany, says that, " of all the gods the chief 
object of their worship is Mercury, to whom, on 
certain days, they hold it lawful to offer human 
sacrifices." 

The names of the gods, as bestowed on the 
different days of the week in the Irish language, 
and as still commonly used in this country, are 
much the same as those mentioned by Csesar. 
They are Dia Sol y " god the Sun," (Sunday) ; 
Dia Luan> "god the Moon," (Monday); Dia 
Moirt y "god Mars," (Tuesday); Dia Cead-iou 
(eeon), "god the first god," Mercury (Wednes- 
day) ; Dia ard-ion (eeon), "god the high god," 
Jove or Jupiter (Thursday) ; Dia Bean-ion, " the 
woman god," Venus (Friday) ; and Dia Satham, 
" god Saturn," (Saturday). 

Dia-Mairt (Mars), is formed from Dia y "god," 
and morty "death;" that is, the god of death and 
destruction, which is certainly a very appropriate 
name. From this evidently comes Mars of the 



THE DRUIDS. 



Latins, and perhaps, too, Ares of the Greeks. 
In the Celtic language Mairta is the name of the 
month of March, from mart, "death," and ta, 
" god." This month was called after the god of 
battles, perhaps from the circumstance of the 
military campaign generally commencing at that 
season of the year, and especially because his 
worship was then performed with great solemnity. 

Satham (Saturn) is formed from sadh (pro- 
nounced saw), "a long knife or cutter," %xi<\fearan, 
"land," for he it was who had instructed mankind 
in agriculture, and thereby produced the golden 
age. Thus he is always represented with a 
pruning knife or scythe in his hand. 

In the Irish language, dia means a "god," and 
dia also means "a day." Ion (pronounced eeon), 
means a "high lord," and sometimes "god, or 
the sun." The name of dia was evidently given to 
the day as being dedicated to " the god," and the 
day of theDruids commenced, like that of Hebrews, 
from the evening. Thus, for instance, Sunday 
commenced from Saturday evening at sunset ; 
and, as the Scripture expresses it, the evening and 
morning were one day. When dia means "day," 
as with respect to the days of the week, the name 
of the divinity is in the genitive case. The 
names of the seven days are then thus : — Dia 
Sul y "the day of the Sun" (Sunday) ; DiaLuain, 
" the day of the Moon ;" DiaMairt, "the day of 
Mars;" Dia Ceadoine, "the day of the first god ;" 



THE DRUIDS. 



IS 



Dia Ardione, "the day of the high god Dia 
Venione (corruptly Diaaione,orDiauine,) " the day 
of the woman god" (Venus) ; and Dia Sathrain, 
" the day of Saturn" (Saturday.) It was from the 
Celts the Romans, at a comparatively late period 
of their history, under the reign of the emperors, 
adopted this computation of time by the week, 
and bestowed on the days the names of the 
gods. Dio, who flourished under Severus, says 
this change took place a little before his own 
time. It may, perhaps, be not out of place here 
to observe that the English words King and 
Queen are derived from the Celtic. English 
scholars are unable to tell us their roots, or what 
they originally meant. " King" is formed from 
Ceamt-ion, that is, "head high lord :" Ceann 
being "a head," and ion (pronounced eeon,) "a 
high lord" in the Celtic language. "Queen" 
is formed from the original Bean-ion or Ven-ion^ 
that is "woman high lady." In a depraved 
sense, in allusion to Venus, Bean-ion sometimes 
meant a woman of free and unsteady morals. 
This Celtic word Bean-ion is the root of Venus 
of the Latins, as the change from Bean-ion, 
or Venion, to Venus is very trifling ; and she was 
the woman by way of excellence. 

The Latin words Dens and Dies, " a day," and 
also the Greek word Theos, " God," are derived 
from the Celtic Dia. The school-boy is taught 
to derive Theos of the Greeks, from Theo, "to 



i6 



THE DRUIDS. 



run," because his dictionaries and teachers can 
furnish no better derivation. The name Dia, 
itself, appears to be a variation of Ta, pronounced 
Thah, which is apparently the original Celtic 
name of God. In sound and in meaning Ta, of 
the Celtic, corresponds with Yah or J ah, "God," 
or, "the Great I AM," of the Hebrew; for Ta 
means " am or is," God alone having existence 
by excellence, and of himself. This is a curious 
coincidence which exhibits the affinity of these 
two languages, and yet leaves it doubtful w T hich 
of the two is the older or the original one. Could 
this word Ta, "God," have given rise to the 
ancient mysterious monogram T, tan, which 
some believe to have been of Hebrew, others of 
Egyptian origin, but which, perhaps, in reality, 
was Celtic, and belonged to man's primitive lan- 
guage ? The trine Tate, would, of itself, indicate 
a Druidicai origin ; for with the Druids " three " 
was a mystical number into which almost all 
things resolved themselves. 

The word Ta enters into the formation of 
Tuesday and Thursday of the Saxons. ' Tues is 
a compound of Ta, " god," and ess or aise, 
"death;" that is, the god of death or destruction, 
viz., Mars. Tlwr, or Thur, is formed from Ta, 
"god," and ur, "fire," that is, the god of fire, or 
lightning, Jove. But how is Oudens or Wodens 
(Wednesday) formed ? The rest are easy, with 
the exception of Freita, or Friday. Perhaps 



THE DRUIDS. 



Ouden is formed from Uadh, " chief," or " singu- 
lar," and Ta, " god ;" for Mercury held the first 
rank among the gods of the Druidical Celts. 
Freita (Friday) comes from fear, "man," i, "she," 
and ta, " god," that is, the woman god, Venus. 
Another derivation would make it from fear 
" man," and uith (pronounced od) " udder," that 
is, the udder-man, or female, and ta "god." The 
English word woman, and, perhaps, the Latin 
name mulier, would seem to point to this latter 
root as the true one. Woman appears to be 
formed from uith % " udder," and an, " man ;" 
mulier from uith, "udder," and fear, "man." 
Vir, "man," of the Latin, comes from fear, "man," 
of the Celtic. 

Some of the ancient Greek and Latin writers 
mention EsuSj or Essus, as a god of high repute 
among the Gauls. He is also sometimes called 
Estar, or Esar. Esus, or Essus, is evidently 
formed from Essta, the god of death and destruc- 
tion, that is, Mars, who was the great protector 
of the Gallic nation. He was specially wor- 
shipped about the month of March, which derives 
its name from him. From him also is derived 
the name of Easter, as applied to the Paschal 
time, which always occurs at that season of the 
year. 

The sacrifices of the Druids consisted chiefly 
of the products of the earth, grain, milk, 
fruits, and animals. It is also certain that on 



i8 



THE DRUIDS. 



solemn occasions, when visited by a famine, hard- 
pressed by the enemy, or about to enter on some 
arduous undertaking, they offered up human 
sacrifices to conciliate the favour or avert the 
anger of their gods. Malefactors, felons, and 
even captives of war, were easily disposed of in 
this way, by a people who had neither a Cayenne, 
a Botany Bay, nor a convict-hulk to send them 
to ; and perhaps it was a comfort to the poor vic- 
tims themselves to be told that they were bene- 
fiting their friends, while pleasing the deities, by 
their death. Still innocent victims were not un- 
frequent, and Diodorus Siculus says that the 
Phoenicians in this way sometimes offered up a 
holocaust, or sacrifice, of thirty helpless children 
together. How far this gloomy and dreadful 
system prevailed in Ireland is not known ; but 
as the Druids were educated and trained under 
the same stern rule and discipline, it is likely 
that their principles and practice were every- 
where the same, though, perhaps, as it is to be 
hoped, occasionally modified by national in- 
fluences. 

Caesar tells us how these human sacrifices 
sometimes took place. They constructed gigan- 
tic images of osiers and wicker-work, partly 
filled with inflammable materials, and in the 
round enorn.ous legs and arms of these hideous 
effigies living men were enclosed. At the ap- 
pointed time for the sacrifice, fire was applied to 



THE DRUIDS. 



19 



this structure, and presently the whole mass was 
enveloped in flame and smoke, and soon reduced 
to ashes. Over the horrid scene the Druids pre- 
sided as usual in their official capacity, with great 
ceremony, using incantations and spells to make 
the sacrifice more effective in propitiating the 
god. And so little did these grim spectacles 
shock the feelings of the people, that many 
amongst them, of their own free choice, and 
without any compulsion, offered themselves as 
victims on such occasions. The Romans en- 
deavoured to abolish or check this barbarous 
custom, but, generally, their efforts in that way 
were not of much avail. 

Was the burning at the stake, which even in 
England, and other countries, continued to a 
late period, a remnant of this ? Or was it used 
against persons on account of offences against 
religion, because, perhaps, it had been the special 
punishment with the Druids of impiety to their 
gods ? 

Though the Romans endeavoured, as their 
writers tell us, to restrain the Druids on this 
point of their worship, they were not themselves 
without their human sacrifices. " By an ancient 
law of Romulus," (says Adam, Roman Anti- 
quities), persons guilty " of certain crimes such as 
treachery or sedition, were devoted to Pluto and 
the infernal gods. In after times, a consul, 
dictator, or praetor, might devote not only 



20 



THE DRUIDS. 



himself, but any one of the legion, and slay him 
as an expiatory victim. In the first ages of the 
republic human sacrifices seem to have been 
offered annually ; and it was not till the year 
of the city 657, that a decree of the senate was 
made to prohibit them. Boys used to be cruelly 
put to death, in the time of Cicero and Horace, 
for magical purposes." 

Among the Jews there were many sacrifices of 
animals appointed by God himself. Could the 
perversion among other nations with respect to 
human sacrifices be the result of a false and 
erroneous tradition or interpretation of an 
early revelation or belief regarding the great 
sacrifice which was to redeem mankind ? 

The Druids had temples, altars, and sacred 
places for the performance of their worship. 
Some of these are still existing in Ireland, and 
also in England, Scotland, and France. Perhaps 
in this country we have the most numerous 
specimens, though not of the most gigantic 
proportions. We have the Siorcalleact (Circle 
temple), the Cromleact, the Dalian, the Carnan, 
and the Carn, with many other objects, the 
uses and origin of which are now utterly un- 
known. There is no proof that the Druids ever 
used any covered temples, at least in this 
country, or probably elsewhere. In France are 
the remains of such temples, which are popularly 
ascribed to the Druids ; but it is more likely 



THE DRUIDS. 



21 



that they belonged to the Romans, who had 
conquered and occupied a great part of that 
country. It appears to have been a prominent 
article of the Druidical creed, that to worship 
their gods within covered temples was contrary 
to the notion that ought to be entertained of the 
divine immensity. We have this on the tes- 
timony of Tacitus, and other ancient writers. 
It is, however, stated that owing to Roman ideas 
the Druids of France erected temples of unusual 
magnitude, some roofed, and others open and 
roofless according to the ancient rule. In a 
part of that country, called Montmorillon, was 
a stately edifice of this kind, having on the 
entrance over the gate the statues of eight gods, 
which were believed to be Druidical divinities. 
These were probably the effigies of the gods, 
whose names were bestowed on the seven days 
of the week, together with that of Minerva, who 
was a favourite deity of Druidism. It is not 
known whether this temple, and its rude statues, 
were erected by the Druids themselves, or by 
the Romans, who generally adopted the gods of 
the conquered countries, and who, by construct- 
ing an edifice of this kind in Gaul, would have 
performed an act highly calculated to flatter 
and conciliate a people of strong religious 
feelings. 

The earliest simple specimen of their temple 
was a circular portion of ground, inscribed all 



22 



THE DRUIDS. 



round with a furrow, or enclosed within stakes. 
This temporary construction was called teampul y 
(temple,) from the word timcheal 9 or tiomchal, 
which means " round." But where there was an 
opportunity of surrounding the place with grow- 
ing oak trees, it was much preferred for their 
teampul by the Druids. All the temples of this 
kind have, of course, disappeared ; but there are 
others of a more permanent construction which 
have survived the lapse of ages, and now raise 
up their grey heads on the hill-side and in the 
valley, awakening the curiosity of the beholder, 
and the deep interest of the antiquary. 

These are the Siorcalleachts, which are com- 
posed or constructed of large pillar stones, set 
on the ends, round a space of ground in the 
form of a circle. Of these there is a large 
variety. Some attain to majestic proportions, 
both with respect to the size of the stones and 
the quantity of ground enclosed. Others are 
small and unpretending in their structure. The 
presumption is, that they were made small or 
large according to the numbers of the wor- 
shippers, the relative importance of the Druidical 
stations, or, perhaps, the extent of the religious 
ceremonial offices in connexion with them. It 
appears they were composed of twelve pillars, or 
of the multiples of twelve, and it is conjectured 
that these were emblematic of the twelve signs 
of the zodiac, as, probably, the Siorcalleacht was 



THE DRUIDS. 



23 



a temple of the sun. Sometimes there were three 
circles of these pillars, one outside the other, and 
the whole surrounded by a lios 9 that is, by a 
fosse or trench, in which were two or three open- 
ings or passages, to admit ingress and egress. 
No doubt, there was some symbolic meaning in 
the three circles of pillars which, perhaps, it is 
now difficult to find out or conjecture. They 
might, not inappropriately, have been intended 
to represent a crown of rays, which was typical 
of the sun, and also, perhaps, to express some 
points of their belief, indicated by the number 
three, which was a mystical number with them, 
in reference to God, Time, and Eternity. It is 
also certain that, in many instances, the erect 
pillars had horizontal cross-stones placed over 
them, reaching from one to the other, in the 
shape of a rude binding course. This, however, 
was not essential to the Siorcalleacht, and many 
there are without it. It is not easy to say that 
any particular species of site or situation was 
needed for these temples, as they are found on 
the hill, in the valley, and by the sea-side. Altar 
stones have been found in the centre of the Sior- 
calleachts, as at Stonehenge in England, laid 
east and west ; for the Druids worshipped with 
their faces turned to the rising of the sun, or the 
east. In some instances only a semi-circle of 
stones is to be found, and it is supposed that the 
corresponding portion was made-up of temporary 



24 



THE DRUIDS. 



stakes fixed in the ground. There is a semi-circle 
of this kind, consisting of six stones, at a place 
called Bin-na-leacht, near Mallow, and the name 
given to it, from time immemorial, by the peo- 
ple, is Seisearleacht, that is the "six-stone heap, 
or altar structure." Bin-na-leacht means " the 
hill of the stone of death;" leacht being a com- 
pound word formed from Ha, " a stone," and 
audhachty " death." This is in allusion to the 
. victims slaughtered there. There are some who 
are of opinion that the semi-circle was a temple 
of the moon, which often assumes that figure, 
while the full circle always represented the sun. 

Siorcalleacht is a compound word, from siorcal y 
"a circle," and leacht, " the flag-stone of death 
while siorcal, or circfey itself, is made up of sior, 
" continual, or always," and cal> " to surround." 
Calis also "to surround or embrace," in the He- 
brew. It is from this word siorcaly or siorcalleacJity 
that the English word " church," is probably de- 
rived ; as also circulus, " circle," of the Latins, 
and kuklos of the Greeks. If we look in our dic- 
tionaries for the derivation of the word "church,", 
we will find for our information, circe, of the 
Saxons, and kirk of the Scotch. The lexico- 
graphers cannot go higher. But here in the 
Celtic we find the original root siorcalleacht y " the 
pillared temple of the Druids," from which comes 
in plain regular succession, the Saxon " circe," 
the Scotch " kirk," and the modern English word 



THE DRUIDS. 



25 



" church." The word " church," however, as we" 
shall see hereafter, may have been formed from 
cai-erc, " the house of heaven." 

The Druidical temples may be said to have 
been composed of rude pillar-stones; and we 
find that, however elaborate and ornamental 
might have been the temples of other nations, 
such as the Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians, 
they all invariably exhibited the peculiar fea- 
ture of the column, or the pillar. It is a curious 
fact that, however large these structures, and 
sumptuous their details, the peculiar forms of the 
primitive rude Druidical pillars were still pre- 
served, in all the gorgeousness of both portico 
arid peristyle, with scrupulous, and, as it would 
seem, with religious fidelity. 

The word teampul, " temple," has the same 
meaning as siorcalleacht, though springing from a 
different root with respect to the first part of its 
compound. It is formed from tiomchal, which 
means " round," and tiomchal itself is composed 
of the word tint (pronounced teem), which means 
" time," and cal y "to catch," or "embrace," that is, 
the endless circuit of time, or the eternal circle 
of existence. How appropriately was this idea 
exemplified and symbolized in these sacred round 
places of the Druids, the teampul and the sior- 
calleacht ; the endless circle representing the 
circuit of the sun and the endless course of time, 
and of existence, according to their religious 



26 



THE DRUIDS. 



convictions ! Many places in Ireland retain to 
this day the name of teampul, which they derived 
from the presence there, at one time, of the old 
Druidical temple. 

" It was," says Caesar, " a special point of 
the belief of the Druids, that the soul did not 
perish ; non inierire animas. They also believed 
that they themselves were descended from the 
Deity before all ages, and that they formed a part 
of the eternal existence ; as, after death, they were 
to enter other bodies, and others again, till at 
last they joined the circle of happiness, according 
to their doctrine of the transmigration of souls. 
Thus, the Irish expression for " he died " is do 
fiutr se bas y that is, literally, " he got death." 
Bas (pronounced bazvs), is a compound word from 
bi y " living or being," and aise> " death ;" do fitar 
se bas, thus meaning, " he got the life or being of 
death." In the popular language is still preserved 
the interpretation of this, for it says, " Ni fhnil 
an sa bhas ach athraghadh beatha" " there is no- 
thing in death but a change or alteration of 
life." 

The divinity they sprung from was Dene, or 
Tene-ion, the " fire-god," or the Sun, which, 
from them, received among other nations the 
name of Titan. Virgil and Ovid may be specially 
mentioned as among those who gave it that 
title, evidently formed from Tene-ion. 

They were thus the famous Tuatha De De- 



THE DRUIDS. 



27 



nan, or Dene-ion, that is, the princes or descend- 
ants of the god-fire-god, which was the Sun. 
In treating of the Druids, some ancient writers 
state that the great object of their worship was 
Teutate, that is, Mercury. No doubt he occupied 
a high place in their mythology, and, for some 
reason unknown, they called him the "first god." 
The word, Teutate, is of foreign manufacture, 
from the Celtic Ta-taiilichcannach, that is, " the 
god of commerce from ta, " god," and taithcean- 
nach, "commerce." Possibly from the similarity 
of names, these ancient writers might have con- 
founded him with Dia-tenne-ion, the u fire-god." 
The word Teutonic, as applied to the Germans 
and other neighbouring nations, bears a strong 
resemblance to the name of this divinity. It is, 
however, formed from toitih, "north," and 
thajie y " a country-," that is, u a northern man." 

Whatever may be the origin of the name, the 
divinity who bore it was held in high veneration 
by the Druids. To him they sacrificed many 
bulls, laying on their altars of stone their palpi- 
tating members, and the blood, from the appear- 
ance of which they pretended to know the mind 
and the w : ll of the Deity. The ceremony was 
accompanied by hymns, incantations, and spells. 
In very grave and peculiar circumstances, they 
demanded even human victims for this purpose. 
If a condemned malefactor were within reach, 
or an outlawed robber, a captured spy, or prisoner 



28 



THE DRUIDS. 



of war, he would be the first to succumb to the 
call, and in default of him, the stern choice fell 
on some slave or miserable old man. The will 
of Dia-tenne-ion, or of any other special god, was 
then sure to be ascertained beyond all doubt, by 
such an agreeable sacrifice, and the proofs of the 
divine manifestation and favour were solemnly 
announced to the people. Where it was a human 
victim the blood was received, with much cere- 
mony, in a vessel of gold, to make observations 
on it when about to be poured on the altar. In 
augury, on important occasions, every change 
and feature of the victim were most minutely 
observed. 

The large stones or flags known in Ireland by 
the name of Cromleacht and Leaba, or Liaba, 
were evidently the altars used for these various 
purposes. The general Irish name of altar is 
dlloir, or altoir. In the Welsh dialect of the 
Celtic tongue it is allor y or allawr. Alloir, or 
allawr is a compound word, formed from al, " a 
stone/' and adhradh (pronounced araJi) " adora- 
tion," that is, the stone of adoration. The word 
adhradh (adoration) is also a compound formed 
from tau, or tor, " God," and radh (pronounced 
raw, or rah) "speaking," that is, speaking to God. 
To this is sometimes added the intensitive adh y 
making adh-adhradh y that is, speaking to God 
with great intensity. From this has come the 
adoro (adore) of the Latins ; and from adhradh 



THE DRUIDS. 



2 9 



is derived their ara, " altar, or shrine," as well as 
are (prayers) of the Greeks. The second general 
Celtic name for altar, that is altoir, appears to be 
the basis of their altare. Altoir is formed from 
alt, "a high place, or hillock," and adhradh, 
" adoration," for many of the Druidical altars were 
established on the high places, or on the tops of 
the hills. Latin scholars attempt to give deri- 
vations of their own for ara, altare, and adoro ; 
but these are puerile, far-fetched, and destitute 
of real meaning. Another name given, to a stone 
of adoration, or an altar, in the Celtic, is cloch- 
adhradh, abbreviated clochar, from clock, " a 
stone," and adhradh, " adoration." The town of 
Clogher, in Tyrone, derives its name from the 
presence there, at one time, of a stone of this kind. 

The altars of the Druids were invariably of 
stone ; and crom-leacht and leaba, or liaba, were 
different kinds of them. According to some, 
crom-leacht means the stone or altar of Crom, an 
idol or image of the sun. In the opinion of 
others, it means the bent stone, or altar. It is, 
rather,formed from cromadh(pronouncedcromah), 
" bending," and leacht, " a stone of death," that is, 
"the bending or rocking stone of death." These 
are flat, of an oblong shape, and sometimes 
of enormous size, with the long ends facing to 
the east and west. They have a bend or dip to 
the east, doubtless to promote the flowing of the 
blood in that direction. They are poised on 



30 



THE DRUIDS, 



another stone, placed under the centre in such a 
way that the force of a man's hand can rock 
them up and down, Evidently this contrivance 
was designed as a means of agitating the blood 
and palpitating members of the victim, and from 
the appearance thus presented, of better ena- 
bling the priests to augur the will of the gods, with 
respect to the object or undertaking they had in 
view. The whole structure, consisting of the 
upper flag, the two or three supporting stones, 
and generally another large flag lying near them, 
was called by the general name of crom-leacht, 
"the bending stone of death," 

Leaba, or liaba y appears to be a compound 
word formed from Ha y %t a flag-stone," and iobadh 
" death ;" that is, the stone on which the victims 
or animals were immolated. In confirmation of 
this it may be stated that the name of altar in 
Greek is tluisiastcrion, from ihuiein y "to kill, or 
immolate;" and the name of it in Hebrew is 
misbeach, from zabach, "to kill." Leabigh-na- 
Feine is a name often given to these large stones 
in this country, that is, the immolating stones of 
the Fenians, or Scythians, 

These altars are stationary, resting firmly on 
two or three stones placed under them. Crom- 
leacht and Icaba mean the same thing, that is, 
the stone altar ; but crom-leacht seems to be the 
rocking-altar, for agitating the blood and mem- 
bers of the victim. For what other object, or in 



THE DRUIDS. 



3* 



what other particulars, its use might have been 
distinguished from that of the leaba, is not 
known. To give an idea of the size of these 
fixed altars, I may say that here, at Castlemary, 
near Rostellan, there is one fourteen feet long by 
twelve broad, and more than four feet thick. At 
Glanworth, near Fermoy, is one seventeen feet 
long, eight feet wide, and three feet deep, and it 
was at one time surrounded by a siorcalleaclit, 
or stone circle, twenty-eight feet in diameter. 
Near each of these altars was a smaller, but still 
massive flag-stone, which it is supposed was the 
pedestal for the image, or rather the emblem of 
the deity to whom the altar was dedicated, or 
the sacrifice offered. Another stone was there too, 
having a concave surface, for, as some think, con- 
taining water with which the priest sprinkled him- 
self and the victim, when he was about to offer 
sacrifice. It is, however, more likely that this was 
a smaller altar, which, by its construction and 
hollow face, was specially designed for receiving 
and retaining the blood of the victim. In the 
Celtic language the word mias (pronounced 
meeas) means an altar, and this is commonly 
understood as meaning a hollow vessel of stone 
or wood. It also means a dish, as well as a dish- 
shaped altar. In many instances the surfaces of 
the large altars were not calculated to retain the 
blood. They were, like the one at Castlemary, near 
Cloyne, more convex than even, or flat ; and thus 



32 



THE DRUIDS. 



another altar might have been required for the 
special purpose of retaining the blood. 

All these stones were considered as forming a 
part of the sacrificial structure, and around them, 
for their protection, was always erected the Lios, 
or mound of circumvallation, composed of rude 
materials, such as earth, or undressed stones, or 
both combined. Trees, and especially the oak, 
were for these places a most important feature. 
The popular language has, probably from local 
circumstances or events, given qualifying names 
to some of these structures, such as Liaba- 
chaillighy " the immolation-stone of an old 
woman" (the victim), near Fermoy ; Liaba-na- 
bo-ftnne, " the altar, or immolation stone of the 
white cow," near Rostellan ; and Liaba-viullaghga, 
near Mitchelstown. They are also, in their 
various localities, made the subjects of many 
popular legends, teeming alike with the wonder- 
ful and the impossible. 

These two kinds of altars must have been nu- 
merous, and are now found in many parts of the 
country. The people have been, and still are,, 
very reluctant to destroy them, whether it is from 
superstitious fear, from the influence of old asso- 
ciations, from the traditional stories regarding 
them, or from the natural respect generally en- 
tertained for the venerable monuments of anti- 
quity. The antiquarian and the scholar will never 
regret this virtue or weakness on the part of the 



THE DRUIDS. 



33 



people, whatever view unimpressible obtuseness, 
or selfish political economy, may take of the 
subject. 

In some instances, sepulchral urns and bones 
have been found under or near these stones ; and, 
from this fact, many have inferred that they were 
not altars, but monuments of the dead. Their 
character, as altars, however, is fully established, 
and surely a religious feeling might have induced 
a Druid, or an old chief, to request that his ashes 
may be permitted to repose near that which was 
to him, in life, an object of respect and venera- 
tion. Besides, as there were human sacrifices, 
the poor enthusiast, who would have given his 
life for the good of his people, might have been 
deemed worthy of an urn or a sod near the altar 
on which he would have been immolated a volun- 
tary victim. The presence of ashes near these 
places can be accounted for by this supposition, 
and also by remembering that the Celts, like 
other nations, had burnt offerings. There is 
another species of altar in Ireland, and also in 
France, Britain, and Scotland, called, in the Celtic 
language, cam. The brow of a hill, or an ele- 
vated spot here and there, is called by this name. 
It was certainly an altar, for cam, in the Irish 
language, means " an altar," and also "a priest," 
probably, the peculiar, or special priest of the 
earn. What were the object and uses of this 
kind of altar ? 



34 



THE DRUIDS. 



Caesar tells us, that before going to war they 
solemnly invoked the favour and aid of Mars, the 
god of battles, and vowed, as an offering to him, 
all that they would capture from the enemy. A 
part of the spoils thus taken was burned in a place 
consecrated for that purpose, and another part was 
collected to another consecrated spot, where every- 
thing was religiously and scrupulously allowed 
to remain, as a votive offering to the god. So 
great was the veneration, inspired by religion and 
patriotism, for these monuments, that even gold, 
and silver, and precious stones, taken from the 
enemy, were allowed to remain there untouched 
till the arrival of that period of the year when, 
perhaps, they were to be removed away, by 
public authority, and in a public procession, to be 
formally distributed among the victors. The slight- 
est violation of this rule was inexorably punished 
by the infliction of torture and of death. 

The earn was probably the place where these 
spoils, consisting of horses, cattle, and even the 
bodies of the slain warriors, were burned ; and 
the cat nan ^ another of the national sacred places, 
was the spot to which the other portion of them 
was gathered, to remain there a monument of 
the victory. Even to this day some of the earns 
of our country bear the names of the slain chiefs 
whose bodies were burned on them ; and, in 
many instances, their soil exhibits quantities of 
calcined and vitrified substances, which must be 



THE DRUIDS. 



35 



regarded as the clear and certain results of great 
heat and fusion. 

The word earn, (pronounced kawrn) y seems 
to be formed from ca t "a house, or structure," 
adhradh (pronounced arrah), "adoration," and#//, 
" a place of," that is, " the place of the house or 
structure of adoration ;" or it may be a compound 
of caidhj " holy," and aran, " a high mound, or 
hill." With the Druids these were favourite places 
for celebrating the worship of the gods. On some 
the Beal fires were lighted in honour of the Sun, 
and on others, in thanksgiving to Mars, was so- 
lemnly consumed a large portion of the spoils 
taken from the enemy. From the presence of 
large heaps of stones on these places it is con- 
jectured that, at the ceremony of burning the 
enemy's spoils, the people threw stones on the 
pile to express horror and detestation, according 
to an Oriental custom. Even, very recently, in 
this country, stones were heaped in this way an 
the graves of murderers, and on the places where 
persons were supposed or known to have been 
maliciously killed. In Wales they have a bad 
wish, conveyed in these terms : — " May your 
monument be a earn;" that is, may you die the 
death of the execrable, or, according to the 
original interpretation — " May you be burned 
together with the spoils taken from you by your 
enemy, and may your ashes lie scattered among 
the stones on the top of the hi 1." 



36 



THE DRUIDS. 



On the earn of Dia-Mart (Mars), a sacrifice 
was offered before battle to propitiate the favour 
of the god. The victim here was, probably, the 
horse or the ass ; while, after the battle, they 
offered him a portion of the animals taken from 
the enemy. Where a sacrifice was offered to 
Mars, the ceremony was accompanied by the 
presence of a naked sword, which was the 
emblem of the god, and which, on these occa- 
sions, was stuck in the ground. Carnach is, in 
Irish, one of the names of a priest, doubtless 
from the word earn, or " the structure of ador- 
ation." 

The places selected for the earn and carnan 
were, generally, the brows or summits of the 
highest hills, commanding the best view of the 
country. It was there the local chief, or king, 
was solemnly installed and proclaimed. Stand- 
ing near the altar of the god, and those spoils, 
or monuments, which his ancestors and his 
people had taken from the enemy, that is, the 
burnt earn on the one side, and carnan of still 
remaining spoils on the other, he swore that 
he would be ever faithful to his trust, and defend 
his territory against all foes, no matter from 
what quarter they may come. While making 
this declaration, he cut with his sword suc- 
cessively to the east, west, north, and south. 
On these occasions he was surrounded by his 
people, with their implements of war, and all 



THE DRUIDS. 



37 



the barbaric magnificence at their command. 
This singular custom still continues in a few 
countries formerly occupied by the ancient 
Celts. It was lately observed at the magni- 
ficent ceremony of the crowning of the Em- 
peror Francis Joseph of Austria, as king of 
Hungary. Probably the hurling of the arrow or 
dart out to sea at their boundaries, as practised 
by our city corporations on anniversary days, is 
a remnant, or a modification of it. 

Carnan (pronounced kawrnawn) is formed 
from carnd, " booty or spoils, and an, " one" or 
" definite," meaning the particular site, that is, 
" the place or heap of the spoils taken from the 
enemy." It was highly impious to violate that 
heap by taking, or appropriating, any of the ' 
articles deposited there. In Ireland there is 
still commonly used an expression which is 
thought to have originated at the ceremony of 
depositing these spoils. It is this — " May God 
increase the heap." Go meadaighe Diet an car- 
nan; that is, according to the original meaning, 
" May God increase the heap of spoils by giving 
us other victories over the enemy." Most likely 
the warriors and their priests used these words 
when conveying the trophies to the place, and 
depositing them there. 

The Dalian (pronounced dhallawn) is another 
of the Druidical monuments. It consists of a 
large pillar stone stuck deep into the ground, and 



38 



THE DRUIDS. 



standing from six to twelve feet or more above 
the surface. In some instances, two of these are 
found standing side by side, at the distance of 
two or three feet asunder, with a massive large 
flag-stone resting on the ground beside them. 
What is the meaning of Dalian, and what were 
its uses ? Dalian is a compound word formed 
from de-ail and ain 9 that is, " the god-stone ol 
the circle," or, perhaps, an, "one," "definite." It 
was, like all their other monuments, surrounded 
by the lis, or circular enclosure, to separate it 
from profane use, and to indicate that it was con- 
secrated ground. This was the general place of 
assembly for the transaction of temporal matters, 
for fairs, perhaps, and markets, and it was also 
the judgment seat or court of the Druid. It was 
the duty of the Druid to frame laws and dispense 
justice, as well as to preside over the public wor- 
ship. Here, then, at the dallan, he held his open 
air court, to ratify agreements and contracts, to 
adjudicate on minor cases of litigation and dis- 
pute, and pass judgment on criminals for certain 
offences. It appears that it was usual to swear 
by the dallan, with the hand resting on it. Con- 
tracts and covenants were ratified there by per- 
sons facing each other while placing their hands, 
in token of faith and solemnity, on the sacred 
stone, and kissing it at the same time. It is 
surmised that the stone crosses erected by the 
early Christians in their market places, were in- 



THE DRUIDS. 



39 



tended for a similar purpose, when the Druidical 
courts and their ceremonies had passed away. 
Even some of the dhallawns of the country have 
had rude crosses inscribed on them, apparently 
for this object. Among the early Christians in 
Ireland, it was a usual custom to swear by the 
cross, and by the memorials of the saints ; and, 
probably, the presence of the cross on the books 
of the Evangelists in our courts of justice at the 
present day, is a remnant of the practice. The 
two-pillared dhallawn was probably a higher 
court than that of the one pillar ; and it is con- 
jectured that the large flag-stone lying beside it, 
was the judgment seat of the presiding Druids. 
The dallan is to be found in all the countries 
formerly held by the Celts. In parts of France 
they are very numerous, and are called by the 
name of dolman, which is evidently a corruption 
of the original name dallan. 

In the names which these monuments still 
bear in Scotland, are clearly traceable some of 
the uses to which they were devoted. The 
places where the erect pillars stood are, in many 
instances, called dalmany and chinmany. Dal- 
many is a corruption of dal-na-mionna y which 
means " the god-stone of the oaths," and dun- 
many is chiain-na-mionna, that is, " the circum- 
vallated place of the oaths." The Roman oath 
Per Jovem lapidem, " by the stone Jupiter," was, 
in all probability, derived from the dallan ; and 



4Q 



THE DRUIDS. 



among the Irish the asseveration, Dar an gcloch 
seo, " by this stone," prevails even to this day. 
A pompous popular asseveration of this kind was 
the following, at one time much used : — " Dar 
a7i leac Phadric ata a Gcastol, " by the stone of 
St. Patrick that is at Cashel." The vassal 
often received the grant of his lands, and, in 
return, swore fealty to his chief at these sacred 
stones. In the old castle of Blarney, near Cork, 
is a famous stone which adventurous tourists and 
travellers, as well as the natives, are fond of kiss- 
ing, to make them polite, truthful, and fascinating 
for ever ! It is surmised that this was once a 
part of an old Druidical dallan existing near the 
place, and that from some whim or fancy, the 
local chief, McCarthy, ordered it to be built up 
in the front wall of the square tower of his new 
fortress. 

The word, dallan, enters into the names of 
many places in Ireland. There is, for instance, 
near the harbour of Queenstown, a fine old 
manor, called Rusdhallain, (Rostellan,) from 
rus (a plain), and dallan, " the god-stone." 
The two-pillared dallan, from which the name 
is derived, still stands there on the sea shore, in 
despite of the continual progressive encroach- 
ment of the tide. To this class of monuments, 
most probably, belongs a perforated stone that 
is found at a place popularly called Leac-an- 
dha-arrah, in the parish of Kilpadder, near 



THE DRUIDS. 



41 



Mallow. Leac-an-darrah means " the stone of 
the double pledge," and it is thought that the 
persons entering into the engagement there, 
grasped or touched hands through this aper- 
ture in the stone. This hole in it, however, 
must have been natural, as the chisel was 
scrupulously excluded from all our Druidical 
monuments. 

Caesar says that the Druids of France held 
a high court of justice once every year, at a 
consecrated place in the centre of their country, 
where grave matters of dispute about boundaries 
and property, were finally adjusted. There 
was a similar court in Ireland, and for it, in 
all probability, all the heavy suits and important 
cases were reserved, while the minor points 
were decided at the local tribunals, that is, the 
dallans. 

In the ancient province of Meath, and not far 
from the boundaries of the other four provinces, 
there is an old territory which was known by 
the name of Uisneach. It was called the navel 
of Ireland, either from its geographical position, 
or perhaps for some reason in connexion with 
ancient Mythology, just as Delphi, the seat of 
the famous oracle in Greece, w T as named the 
navel of the earth. Ancient legend said that it 
was here, on the arrival of the Druids in Ire- 
land, the first sacred fire was lighted in the 
country by an Archdruid, named Midhe. On 



4 2 



THE DRUIDS. 



a hill there is a large stone called Ail-na- 
mireann, that is, the stone of the parts or the 
divisions. This was the high court to which 
the Druids, with all others interested in these 
matters, came every year, to hear and decide the 
various heavy cases of dispute and litigation, 
that might have arisen in the country. Prob- 
ably important criminal cases were disposed of 
there too. The sentence here pronounced was 
final. As in all other matters decided by the 
Druids, the person, opposing or violating their 
judgment, was declared to be execrable, and ex- 
communicated from society, as well as Irom 
the offices and rites of religion. The hill of 
Uisneach enjoyed its high privilege, while Druid- 
ism prevailed in the land ; and we find that 
even in Christian times, it continued to be used 
as a place for the ratification of solemn contracts, 
Probably, the stone on it was called Ail-na-mire- 
am, from the fact that the five divisions of Ire- 
land, or the five provinces, met here. 

The objects or monuments of Druidical wor- 
ship and veneration, as still existing in this coun- 
try, we have now passed in review. There is 
one feature peculiar to them, and it is this, 
that they bear no evidence of the operation of 
the hammer or the chisel. It was probably a 
matter of religious rule with them to select, 
for their altars and their temples, stones which 
had been found lying on the plains, and which 



THE DRUIDS. 



43 



had been cut, without hands, from the sides of the 
mountains. Their monuments exhibit, in this 
way, every form of rudeness and originality. 
Possibly, however, there may have been no objec- 
tion to stones raised from the ground, or detached 
from the parent rock by means of wooden spikes 
or levers. 

Other ancient objects there are which bear the 
impress or marks of the edged instrument, and 
which probably existed in the time of the Druids ; 
but these did not belong to their religious wor- 
ship. There is, for instance, the Ogham, or 
sepulchral monument, inscribed with its mysterious 
vertical and horizontal straight lines. The word 
Ogham (pronounced owem), seems to be a com- 
pound of eo y "a grave or monument," and uaimh, 
" a cave or burying place." It is, however, to the 
stone or monument, bearing the peculiar inscrip- 
tion, in vertical and horizontal lines, that the term 
Ogham is generally applied. A monument of 
this kind is called by the country people, Ogliam 
craobhachy that is, " the branchy Ogham" from 
the resemblance of these lines and cross-lines 
to the tree with its branches. It is now estab- 
lished beyond all doubt, that these scores, or 
lines, contain a real inscription, and that this 
species of sepulchral and memorial writing in 
Ireland, which probably had commenced at a 
very early period, was used even in Christian 
times, and on the graves or tombs of Christians. 



44 



THE DRUIDS. 



The late Mr. Windele, of Cork, and other indus- 
trious Irish Archaeologists, have done much to 
decipher this long mysterious writing, and to give 
us an intelligible key for it. 

Nothing could be more simple or more suitable, 
in a rude state of the arts, for memorial or sepul- 
chral writing, than the Ogham. With any edged 
instrument of flint, or hard metal, a person can 
write his thoughts permanently in this way, on the 
rudest flag-stone, or pillar. No polish, nor expen- 
sive preparation, is required, nor any previous 
practical handling of the engraver's chisel. All is 
effected by means of simple straight lines, which 
may be easily traced on wood, or stone, or metal, 
and yet convey the full force of all the letters of 
the alphabet. This writing, or the like, must date 
from a very high period ; in fact, from the mo- 
ment when man first cut a scar or a notch in 
any object, for the purpose of numbering the 
days, or the years of his life, or making a 
rude record of his work, his cattle, his losses, or 
his property. In the Ogham these original lines 
are brought under fixed rule, and made to 
answer for all the letters of the alphabet. Some 
fine specimens of this kind of writing have been 
found in Wales and other countries, as well as 
in Ireland. 

The popular name of Ogham craobhach (the 
branchy Ogham), given to them in this country, 
is very natural and appropriate. They resemble 



THE DRUIDS. 



45 



the branch of a tree, or perhaps better, a tree 
trained to a wall, with its branches or limbs 
spreading, at almost right angles, to the right 
and the left. A group of limbs, or horizontal 
lines, to the right of the trunk, that is, to the 
fleasg (vertical line or trunk) will stand for a 
certain letter. A line, or group of lines (hori- 
zontal) to the left of the trunk, or fleasg, will 
stand for another letter; and a line, or score, 
or a group of scores, drawn across the trunk, 
or fleasg, will be another certain letter. For 
instance, if the name O 'Brian should be written 
on an Ogham pillar, or flag-stone, it would 
be produced as in the following wood-cut ; 
the writing and reading commencing from the 
base upwards, or according to the comparison 
of the tree, from the root to the branches. 
Where there are two lines of writing, as it often 
happens, running along the outer surface, or the 
angles of the flag, the reading of it, as the 
writing, always commences from the left angle, 
and generally follows down on the opposite 
side. 

It is not to be inferred from the existence of 
the - Ogham that this was the only kind of 
writing known to the Druids, and to the ancient 
Irish. It was merely the monumental writing, 
and very suitable it was for that purpose. Caesar 
tells us that the Druids of France wrote in 
Greek letters. These were, probably, the original 



46 



THE DRUIDS. 




THE DRUIDS. 



47 



Phoenician characters, carried by Cadmus to 
Greece ; and, as the Druids of Ireland received 
the same education and training as their 
brethren of Gaul, it is to be inferred that they, 
too, were in possession of that general Druidical 
writing. 

Another monument or relic, which certainly 
belonged to the Druids of Ireland, has, for 
many ages, been kept in captivity in other 
countries. This is the famous Lia-fail, or stone 
of destiny, as it is called, on which, in ancient 
times, the monarchs or supreme kings of this 
country were crowned or solemnly installed. 
The name Lia-fail means " the stone of the 
king," from Ha, " a stone," and fal, " a king." It 
is commonly called the " stone of destiny," from 
a certain legend in connexion with it, which, 
in the Latin, as preserved by Hector Boetius, 
runs as follows : — 

"Ni fallat fatum, Scoti quocumque locatum, 
Invenient lapidem regnare tenentur ibidem/' 

This Latin legend is evidently formed from 
the Irish, of which the following is the English 
translation : — 

" Unless the fixed decrees of fate give way, 
The Scots shall govern, and the sceptre sway, 
Where'er this stone they find, and its dread sound obey.*' 

The Scots were the Scythians of Ireland, that 



4 8 



THE DRUIDS. 



is, the ancient Irish ; and it is stated that when 
a member of that princely race was placed on 
the stone for coronation or solemn instalment, 
the venerable relic gave its approbation in strange 
supernatural sounds, which were sometimes as 
loud as thunder. And the legend said, that if the 
persons elected happened not to be of the royal 
blood of Scythia, the stone gave no sign of assent, 
but was perfectly dumb, thus intimating a silent 
disapprobation. 

In the sixth century, in the reign of Heremon, 
king of Ireland, this stone was sent to Scotland 
to add to the solemnity of the coronation of 
his brother Fergus, who, with a number of kins- 
men and other followers, had invaded and con- 
quered a part of that country. It is not well 
known whether the black stone gave out its 
mysterious sounds on that occasion, recommend- 
ing the new king to the loyalty and affection 
of the Celts of ancient Alba. It, however; was 
detained in that country, for the purpose of serving 
at the coronation of all future kings, contrary, 
probably, to the wishes of the people of Ireland. 
It was first kept at Argyle, which was the chief seat 
and early important place of the Scots in that 
country. About the year 842 it was transferred 
to Scone by Kenneth the Second, on the occasion 
of his having greatly enlarged and extended 
his territories by successive victories over the 
native Picts. There it was committed to the 



THE DRUIDS. 



49 



custody of the monks of the local monastery 
by whom it was brought forward, as occasion 
required, to serve at the coronation of the Scot- 
tish kings. Probably it was there the words, 
" Ni fallat fatum," &c, which it was said to 
bear, were inscribed on it from the original 
Irish legend, by a monkish lover of antiquities. 
In that monastery it enjoyed a repose of five 
hundred years. 

It was, however, again fated to travel. In the 
year 1300, Edward the First of England made 
a hostile incursion into Scotland to enforce the 
rights of feudal sovereignty which he claimed 
over that country. After subduing William 
Wallace and his brave followers, he brought with 
him to England, among other trophies, the 
famous Lia-fail, and deposited it at Westminster 
Abbey, in charge of the religious community 
that existed there. Its history since is not varied 
by legend or story, and it rests now, silent and 
unimpressible, under the coronation chair of the 
English monarchs, though, for even some of 
them could be vindicated a claim to the ancient 
blood of Scythia. In its absence, the Irish 
kings were compelled to adopt another corona- 
tion stone, and probably this may be the black 
pillar-stone over the " '98 men's graves" at the 
rath of Tara, which Dr. Petrie imagined was the 
ancient Lia-fail. It was on this mound of Tara 



50 ' THE DRUIDS. 

the monarchs of Ireland in former times were 
installed and crowned ; and this stone, which had 
lain there for centuries, was brought by the 
country people to mark the resting place of the 
insurgents who had fallen there in battle. 

Our ancient annals state that the Lia-fail was 
brought to Ireland by the Tuatha-de-Danans, 
and these were, as I have already proved, the 
Druids and their people who believed that they 
were descended from the Deity, that is, from 
Dia-tene-ion (god the fire lord), the great object 
of their worship. There were many curious stories 
and legends among the Irish and Albanian 
Scots respecting this stone. It was stated to 
have been one of four very remarkable relics, 
or curiosities, brought by the Tuatha-de-Danans 
from the north of Europe, where they had 
fixed a temporary residence, and that the 
place in which it had been kept there was 
called Falias. With respect to its previous his- 
tory, we are left in a mysterious darkness. But 
it was said that it was called Lia-fail from 
Falias, just as it was also said that Ireland 
was called Inis-fail from it. Lia-fail, however, 
means "the stone of the king," and Inis-fail 
means "the island of the king/' because the 
country was, from time immemorial, under the 
authority of one supreme monarch. 

The Irish legend or oracle respecting the 



THE DRUIDS. 



5* 



stone, and which was in all probability of Druid- 
ical origin, is contained in these words : — 

Cioniodh Scuit, saor an fine, 
Munab breag an Faisdine, 
Mar a bhfuighid an Lia-fail, 
Dlighid flaitheas do ghabhail. 

In English it is literally — 

The Scottish tribe — a noble race — 
If a lie be not the prophecy, 
Where'er they find the Lia-fail, 
Must sovereignty obtain. 

The lowland Scots have it thus : — 

Except old saws do feign, 

And wizard's wits be blind, 
The Scots in place must reign, 

Where they this stone shall find. 

And an English poet has rendered the Latin 
legend in this way : — 

Consider, Scot, where'er you find this stone, 
If fates fail not, there fixed must be your throne. 

The age of the original lines, and of the stone 
to which they refer, cannot be less than three or, 
perhaps, four thousand years. 

Did the Druid use that singular old cooking 
apparatus, the folach fiadh? It is most pro- 
bable that it existed in his day, and as he required 
nourishment and support like other people, it is 



$2 



THE DRUIDS. 



more than likely that, when performing his reli- 
gious offices in the wilds and forests, he found 
the contents of the folach fiadli both useful and 
necessary. The folach fiadh was a trough for 
boiling meat, fish, vegetables, and other articles 
of food. Folach means " a covering or conceal- 
ment," and fiadli means " food." Fiadh also 
means " deer," and thus, some think that this 
trough was specially intended for boiling venison, 
which, at one time, was very abundant in Ireland. 
The name folach fiadh is well known to the 
country people, and they bestow it on a heap of 
burnt stones, of which, as a rule, they know 
neither the origin nor the use. These stones, 
however, indicate the presence, in their immediate 
proximity, of the tub or trough used by the 
ancient Irish for cooking their food or boiling 
their deer. It is found deeply buried in the 
ground, and imbedded in marl, near a running 
stream, or in a place where a little stream for- 
merly flowed. The writer of this essay was present 
at the exhumation of one in the year 1853, at 
Carrigclina, near Mallow ; and the description of 
it, as written at the moment for the Cork Ex- 
aminer newspaper, by one of the antiquaries 
who met there, will explain its use with a fresh- 
ness and vigour which, probably, words from 
memory at this distance of time would attempt 
in vain : — 

" Towards the close of this month, June," says 



THE DRUIDS. 



53 



the writer, " some members of the South Mini- 
ster Antiquarian Society devoted a few days to 
the investigation of congenial objects and monu- 
ments in the district lying at either side of the 
Blackwater, to the west of Mallow. They visited 
the interesting sites of the castles of Drimmineen, 
of Ballyclough, of Castlemagner, and Lohort, 
including the ' abbey' of Ballygibblin, and the 
battle-field of Knockannuss, where young Alister 
Macdonald, of the legends, fought and fell at the 
head of his brave troops in 1647. 

" On a fine morning they visited, by appoint- 
ment, that curious massive rock, or mound, called 
Carrigclina. Clina was the Queen of the fairies 
of South Munster, and this rock is called after 
her name. It is a most remarkable place ; one 
would say, a fantastic freak of nature, composed 
of huge rocks of every imaginable form, and 
scattered about in every direction. The group 
of antiquaries consisted of John Windele of Cork, 
William Hacket, Richard Brash, Rev. Justin 
M'Carthy, RP. Mallow, Rev. Thomas Murry, RP. 
Glauntane, Rev. Richard Smiddy, C.C. Mallow, 
and Rev. David Coleman, C.C. Glauntane. An 
exchange of civilities took place with some local 
peasant professors of legendary lore, whose 
rhapsodies, wild and mythic as this place where 
they were related by them, carried the mind back 
to remote periods of legendary history. After a 
look at the wild scenery around, they proceeded 



54 



THE DRUIDS, 



to the site of the Fenian hunters cooking ap- 
paratus. 

" It was situated at the western base of Carrig- 
clina, near, as is usual, a small running stream. 
At the invitation of the antiquaries some 
stalwart young men of the place had come 
there to perform the work of exhumation. The 
operations were conducted under the direction 
of Windele, whose experienced eye at once 
pointed out the spot where to begin, and where 
the trough would be found. The countrymen 
used their spades and shovels in right good 
earnest, though to one another, they unmistak- 
ably hinted their incredulity as to the existence 
of any tub or trough in that place. An hour's 
hard work, however, produced a change in their 
opinions, for the implement of one of them 
struck something hard down deep in the soil. 
Another quarter of an hour, and the upper 
surface of the tub made its appearance. No- 
thing could now exceed their amazement, when 
their labour resulted in the clear discovery of a 
wooden reservoir or trough, of rude workman- 
ship, and in the identical spot which Windele 
had pointed out to them. It was found im- 
bedded in a compost of tempered marl, which 
appeared to have been carefully packed under 
and about it. From the level at which the 
delving commenced, to the bottom of the vessel, 
was a depth of six feet. When the tub showed 



THE DRUIDS. 



55 



itself full and clear, the farmers' sons and 
labourers gave loud expressions to their joy and 
amazement. The old rustic patriarch of the 
family seemed even more lost in surprise and 
wonder. Taking his stand on a crescent-shaped 
heap of burnt stones, which nearly surrounded 
the spot where the delving had commenced, and 
which was some three feet higher than that level, 
that is to say, nine feet above the bottom of the 
vessel, he said that, in his youth, the burnt stones 
were not on the surface at all, as now, that the 
place was covered by a turf bog, more than four 
feet deep, but that, from time to time, this was 
cut, and carted away for fuel, and that it was 
thus the burnt stones had first made their 
appearance. He was completely bewildered at 
what his eyes beheld there now. 

" The vessel itself, as may be supposed, was 
thoroughly saturated with wet, and much de- 
cayed ; so that when it came to the surface, the 
jointed pieces fell asunder. It was composed of 
planks, eight in number, four of which formed 
the sides and ends, and four the bottom. Its 
dimensions were six feet long, four feet broad, 
and its depth two feet. The workmanship was 
such as might have been effected with stone-axes. 
There were no nails of either iron, metal, or wood. 
A rude groove at each end of both sides received 
the cross-planks which formed the ends, and, 
through the middle of the bottom, a rough 



56 



THE DRUIDS. 



wooden bar, somewhat rounded, penetrated into 
the marl below. The outside of the planks had 
not received much attention from chisel or 
hatchet, as they were nearly as rough as when 
felled from their native oak-forest. 

" The use ascribed to these vessels by traditions 
collected elsewhere was, that of heating water by 
the immersion into them of large stones pre- 
viously made red hot in wood-fires. In the tub 
were found some large stones bearing indications 
of fire, while the crescent, or mound of burnt 
stones outside was formed of smaller ones, of 
the size of macadamised pavement, such as are 
used at the present day in New Zealand, and the 
South Sea Islands, by the natives for cooking 
purposes. In this heap of stones were found 
mixed some particles of charcoal. The large 
stones in the tub had been the fire, that is, the 
heated and ignited lumps, which had boiled the 
last meal in it. How many ages have passed 
away since the ancient hunter at his vocation, 
and, perhaps, the Druidical priest at his, lighted 
their faces at that fire ? Is it much short of 
three thousand years ?" 

Owing to the presence and preserving qualities 
of the peat that surrounded this tub, the heart of 
the planks was so firm that the writer of this 
essay had a frame for an old map of Ireland 
made of one of them ; and, at this day it is as 
sound and as black as ebony. But how frail and 



THE DRUIDS. 



57 



fleeting is man compared with even the rudest 
objects of his workmanship ! Of the small group 
of antiquarian explorers who witnessed the ex- 
humation of that relic, nearly half have departed 
for "that bourn from which no traveller ever 
returns." Windele, their chief, sleeps in the 
Father Mathew Cemetery at Cork, beside the 
magnificent stone cross which some fellow-citizens 
and other admiring friends have erected to his 
memory. Hacket reposes near him in the same 
grave-yard ; and Father McCarthy rests near his 
own altar at Mallow. When the others follow 
them, the folach fiadhs of South Munster will, to 
all appearance, enjoy another period of their 
ancient undisturbed repose. 

Of a kin with the folach fiadh, though perhaps 
not of the same remote origin, is the brewing vat 
and mill, which is also found deeply imbedded 
in the soil, in various parts of the country. The 
traditions of the people speak of a beoir or lion, 
" beer or drink," which was produced from the 
heath, and is reputed to have possessed very in- 
vigorating qualities. The process by which this 
was made, is now unknown ; though it is certain 
that these old wooden mills, which are often 
massive structures, composed of beams and 
cross-beams, with tubs, or vats, were used in the 
production of it. Near them have been frequently 
found large quantities of decayed heath. It is 
not certain whether the heath was the chief 



D 2 



53 



THE DRUIDS. 



ingredient of this old Irish or Danish drink, or 
whether the tops of it and the berries were used 
to give it a preserving quality, and an agreeable 
bitter taste, or, perhaps, to produce in the in- 
gredients the necessary fermentation. At all 
events, its reputation is high in the popular tra- 
ditions, and probably it was old enough to have 
existed in the days of the Druids. But what- 
ever w T ere the ingredients, whether corn, heath, 
or both, if the rude old brewing mill contributed 
to the subjoined state of things, as described by 
the venerable Book of Rights (Leabhar na 
Gceart), its operations were surely not to be 
despised : — . 

" There are corn, and fruit, and goodness 
In smooth Mumha (Minister), of much prosperity ; 
Mead and drinking horns, and ale and music, 
To the men of Mumha are well known/ 5 

Had the Druid any connexion with those 
large conical mounds of earth that exist in many 
parts of Ireland ? Probably he witnessed the 
construction of them ; and possibly the mortal 
remains or ashes of some of his order might 
have found a worthy tomb in one of these gigan- 
tic structures ; but they were chiefly raised over 
the ashes of princes and kings of the Scythian 
blood, as there is ample proof that they are 
themselves of Scythian origin, They are a 



THE DRUIDS. 



59 



species of pyramid, and of the same family as 
the mound tombs of the Scythian kings, on the 
banks of the Borystenes or Dnieper, the great 
mound at Haliattes, near Sardis, and that of Sil- 
bury hill, in Wiltshire. A fine specimen of this 
kind of structure may be seen at a place called 
Bruigh-righ, in the county of Limerick ; and the 
name of the place, which is evidently derived 
from the mound itself, indicates the nature and 
object of it. Bruigh-righ means " the king's 
sepulchral mound," from bnt, " a grave mound," 
natural or artificial, and righ, " a king." It is 
pronounced Brue-ree. This place was the prin- 
cipal seat of Oilioll Olum, king of Munster, in 
the second century ; and probably, here, too, 
he found a monumental grave. These sepulchral 
mounds were raised high and large, in proportion 
to the dignity of the dead, and the respect enter- 
tained for them. In many instances they con- 
tained caves, or chambers, arched, or flagged 
over, for the reception of the bodies. The word 
brugh seems to be formed from bar, " top or 
head," and uaigh, u a grave." By some it has 
been confounded with brigh, " a hill or hillock," 
which is formed from bar, " top or head," and 
i, pronounced ee> " a country." The English 
word barrow, as allied to this subject, is evidently 
formed from brugh, or bar-uaigh, " the head or 
eminence of the grave." 

It would appear that, even in the Druidical 



6o 



THE DRUIDS. 



times in this country, the dead bodies were often 
buried whole and entire. Cremation, for burials, 
was, .perhaps, at a very early period generally 
practised. It had been introduced, probably, 
from the feeling of religious reverence entertained 
by the Celts for fire. 

It is, however, certain that among them, as 
among the Greeks, who had probably imitated 
their customs, the dead bodies were not always 
burned, but were often interred whole and entire, 
and, as it sometimes happened, with respect to 
dead kings and princes, clad in full armour, and 
adorned with valuable ornaments of gold. They 
were sometimes buried in a lying position, some- 
times in a sittingposition,and sometimes standing 
erect. They faced indiscriminately any point 
of the heavens, while the position towards the 
rising of the sun was in great favour; but the 
dead chief, who had fallen in battle, was often 
buried, sword in hand, with his face and right 
arm turned menacingly against the territories of 
the enemy. 

When cremation, or burning, took place, the 
bones and ashes were generally put into an 
earthen vase or urn, and then deposited in their 
last resting-place under the soil. Many of these 
urns have been found in different parts of Ireland. 

Are there any remains of the houses or habita- 
tions of the Druids in Ireland ? We have still 
the names, with the vestiges and ruins, of ancient 



THE DRUIDS. 



6l 



habitations, which certainly sprang from a period 
remote enough to reach the Druid, but which 
probably belonged to no class in particular, and 
were possessed by all according to their rank, 
position, or temporal resources. Of these are 
the Rath, the Lios, and the Dun, the Teamhair, 
the Caislean, the Caisiol, the Pallis, and the 
Cathair. 

Rath (pronounced rah) is by some regarded 
as a primitive word — by others as a compound. 
It would seem to be formed from reidh (pro- 
nounced ree) a plain, and a, an eminence or 
ascent. Very numerous are the places which, in 
Ireland, are called by the name of Rath. For 
the most part they exhibit an elevation of ground 
where, in many instances, circular mounds of 
earth or stones surrounding a level space within, 
are found standing even to the present day. The 
rath sometimes consists of two, three, and even 
more concentric circles of mounds, with corres- 
ponding deep moats. These structures were 
strongholds of the clans, tribes, or families. In 
one of them the local chief or king usually 
fixed his residence, and, where this was the case, 
the place was called by the name of an riogh- 
rath y that is, the king's rath or fortress. The 
word riogh-rath ("ree-raw") is still common 
among our people as meaning a festive scene of 
drinking, talking, and wild enjoyment. It is, 
apparently, in allusion to the free and boisterous 



62 



THE DRUIDS. 



hospitality which friends and followers often 
enjoyed under the roofs of the ancient Irish 
chiefs. Could the English word, "row," as mean- 
ing a scene of noisy disorder, be an offshoot of 
this Celtic expression ? 

The lios was a habitation, or structure, much 
in the form of the rath, but of more modest 
pretensions. It, too, consisted of a circular 
mound within which the people housed them- 
selves, in the best way they could, under the 
roofs of huts composed of timber, straw, or 
reeds. In the lios, as well as in the rath, are 
frequently found subterraneous passages and 
caverns rudely formed with stones, and covered 
with stone-flags. It is believed that these served 
as places of refuge for the inmates when hard- 
pressed by the enemy, and that they much con- 
tributed to the safety of the place by admitting 
ingress and egress without making an opening or 
passage through the surrounding mounds. In 
these caves, or underground chambers, have often 
been found human bones and skeletons, the sad 
remains, perhaps, of those who, having taken 
refuge there, were not allowed by the besieging 
foe to emerge from them, or to escape in any 
way ; and that thus a slow death put an end to 
their sufferings. Indeed, it would be difficult for 
even a small number of persons to live for any 
considerable time in caves so devoid of air and 
ventilation. That which, in the south and other 



THE DRUIDS. 



63 



parts of Ireland is known by the name of lios, is 
inConnaught called uaigh-thalloo7i (the cave of the 
earth), from the presence of these subterraneous 
caverns, or perhaps because some of them were 
used as cemeteries. In the rath and in the lios 
has often been found that peculiar sepulchral 
monument called the Ogham flag-stone. The 
word lios is probably formed from Ugh, " a cinc- 
ture, or surrounding girdle," and ais, " a fortress, 
or strong-hold." 

Dun, which appears to be a primitive root, 
means " a military fortress." It, too, enters into 
the names of many places in Ireland, and in 
other countries. Such are, for instance, out of 
numberless others, Bran-dun (the black fortress), 
in Kerry ; Dun-na-raithah-aile (the fortress of 
the stone raths), that is Doneraile, in Cork ; and 
Lun-dun (the fortress of the ships), or London, 
in England. The English word dungeon is 
formed from dun-dai?igeon (the close, or strong 
fortress). 

Teamhair, which is Anglicised Tara, is a 
compound word formed from teach, " a house, 
or dwelling^' and mor, " large, or spacious." It 
thus means " the large, spacious, and princely 
residence, or the palace." Besides the famous 
one in Meath, where the kings and princes of 
Ireland met every third year in council, there 
are several places in the country still known 
by the name of Teamhair. Of these may be 



6 4 



THE DRUIDS. 



mentioned Teamhair-Luachra, in the county of 
Kerry, which in all probability was once distin- 
guished for its princely and hospitable mansion. 

Caislean is a compound word formed from ca, 
u a house," ais, " a stronghold," and leathern, 
" wide." It thus means " a large and strong 
house " for military men in the fort or fortress. 

Caisiol is also a compound word formed from 
ca, "a house," ais, " a stronghold," and ail, "a 
stone," that is, "the strong stone-house" of the 
fort or fortress. From this is evidently derived 
the Latin word castellum, as well as its English 
representative castle. 

Pallis, or palas, is a compound word formed 
from fal, "a king," and lios, "a house," that is, 
"the king's house or residence." Palas is an 
inflection or corruption of pallis. The Latin 
word palatium is derived from this, and the 
Palatine hill at Rome owes its name to the fact 
that Romulus, as Evander before him, fixed 
there his palatium, or pallis {fail- lios), that is, 
" the king's house or residence." 

The word cathair seems to be formed from ca, 
"a house," and tara, "a multitude," that is, "the 
residence of many persons." In the Irish lan- 
guage this name is bestowed on a city or very 
populous town. It still clings to places of little 
importance at the present time, but which, pro- 
bably, once possessed large populations, and 
influential local princes. 



THE DRUIDS. 



65 



There is one other structure which claims to 
be coeval with the Druid. This is a small bee- 
hive-shaped or round building, composed of 
stones without cement, and of which the roof is 
formed of flag-stones, hanging in from the walls 
in horizontal diminished series, till the top is 
closed in by a single stone. The name of cro> 
and sometimes of clocan, is bestowed on this kind 
of house. Cro means " a hut or hovel," and 
clocan signifies " a stony place, or a structure of 
stone." Many specimens of these, more or less 
injured by time, are to be found in various parts 
of Ireland, particularly along the south and 
western coasts. From the fact that they were 
generally, within the walls, at most eighteen feet 
long, by seven feet broad, and eight feet high, with 
a narrow door, and two small apertures for air, 
smoke, and light, it may be easily imagined that 
they were far from being luxurious or comfort- 
able habitations. The country people, however, 
ascribe them to the Pagan priests; for in their 
language one of them is often called teach-an- 
Dhroi y that is, "the house of the Druid." 

The names of two other objects of personal 
and social convenience, and coeval with the 
Druids, are well-known in Ireland. These are 
crannog and curach. Crannog meant "a wooden ' 
or ozier house," and it also signified " a boat." 
Crannog means "young trees," from cranna, 
* trees," and oge, " young." When it referred to 



66 



THE DRUIDS. 



a house, it was teach-cranna-oge, that is, "the 
house of young, trees," and it was abbreviated 
crannog. When by it was meant a boat, it was 
barc-cranna-oge, that is "the boat of young trees," 
and was also abbreviated crannog. In these 
boats the frame work or body was formed of 
woven oziers, which were covered with the hides 
of animals. In some parts of Ireland such boats 
are still used, and they were common among the 
ancient Egyptians. 

Curach was also the name of a boat of this 
description. The word seems to be formed from 
coirt y "the bark or hide," and eack y " a horse," as 
such skins were best suited for them. Other 
objects may be mentioned as having belonged 
to the Druidical times, but they are unimpor- 
tant. 

The reader will here probably ask, " Why are 
the enigmatical Round Towers of Erin omitted 
from this enumeration of our ancient Pagan and 
Druidical Monuments ?" The reason is this, 
that a special chapter will be devoted to these 
Round Towers, to shew that they are of Chris- 
tian origin, and that the Druid had no connexion 
with them, except when, having been converted 
to Christianity, he came, like the rest of the 
people, to be regenerated in the waters of 
Baptism. 



CHAPTER II. 



THE DRUIDS. - 

Sacrifices of the Druids. — The Animals Sacrificed. — 
The Sacred Animals. — Dress of the Druid at 
Sacrifice. — His Movements, Prayers, and Incanta- 
tions. — The Famous Egg or Badge of the Druid. — 
The Serpent, and Serpent Worship. — The Fairies, 
and how they could not pass over a running stream. 
— Traditions about them at the East Ferry. — The 
four great religious festivals of the druids. — 
nljadhullig, or christmas. the mistletoe, or all- 
heal, the sacred plant of the druids. — the 
Festival of Beil-tinne, that is, the Fire of Beal in 
May. — Remnants of it still existing. — The Festival 
of lugh-nas, or lammas in august. — the festival 
of Samhain in November. — The great Idol, Crom. — 
The Festival of Beineid, or Minerva — The Carrying 
Home of the Spoils of the Enemy. — The Names of 
the four Seasons of the Year in Irish. — The several 
Orders or Classes of the Druids. — Their Education 
and Literary Acquirements.— The Priests, the 
Judges, the Physicians, the Astrologers, the 
Bards. —The Dress of the Druids and of the Celts. 
— A Druid named Abaris visits Greece, and a 
Description of him by Greek Writers. — At what 
time the Druids first came to Ireland. — The Celtic 
Names of Ireland, of England, and of Scotland. — 
The East, the Original Country of the Druids. — 
Their Conversion in Ireland to Christianity. 



A SACRIFICE is an offering made to the Deity 
of a thing destroyed in his honour, to acknow- 
ledge his sovereign authority over all things. 
Sacrifices consisted, generally, of things useful to 
mar, of animals and of their produce, and of the 
fruits of the earth. Of human victims also, as 



68 



THE DRUIDS. 



sacrifices, there were instances to be found among 
almost all Pagan nations. In the Irish language 
there are various names for a sacrifice, and from 
one of these, in my opinion, is derived the word 
sacrificiiim (sacrifice), of the Latins. This Celtic 
name is sacrail, or saitlicrail. It is a compound 
word, formed of saith (pronounced saw) "piercing/ 1 
cri, "heart," and ail, "stone," that is, the piercing 
of the heart at the stone, or at the altar; the Irish 
name of altar being alloir, or altoir, from al } " a 
stone," and adhradh (pronounced arah) "adora- 
tion." From this word sacrail manifestly comes 
sacart, or sagard, the Irish name for " priest." 

Another name for a sacrifice is iobhairt, which is 
a compound word, formed from iobadh, pro- 
nounced eeba> "death," and art, "a stone," that is 
" death at the stone, or at the altar." Art is also 
a name for "God," and it may thus mean a 
death given to God, or in honour of him. An- 
other name for sacrifice, is offrail, which is 
probably formed from iobadh-air-ail, that is, 
" death on the stone, or the altar." Or, it may 
be formed from oba-air-al, that is, " a stream on 
the stone or altar ;" for the blood of the victim 
was usually poured out on the altar in that man- 
ner. The blood was received in a golden cup or 
vessel, and then poured on the altar. Iomailt 
is another name for sacrifice ; and the word is 
formed from iobadh, " death," and alt, " a high 
place." Altars were often erected on the hills. 



THE DRUIDS. 



6 9 



From iomailt comes immolatio, "immolation," of 
the Latins. 

The worship of the Druids consisted princi- 
pally of sacrifice. Indeed, whether it arose from 
natural instinct, or from primary Divine reve- 
lation, it was by sacrifice that man, from the 
beginning, rendered homage to the Deity ^/The 
sacrifices of the Druids, as has been already stated, 
consisted chiefly of the products of the earth, 
grain, milk, animals. It is also an incontro- 
vertible fact, that, on great and solemn occasions, 
human beings were offered up in sacrifice by 
them. A condemned criminal was the first to 
fall under their stern choice ; but when that 
victim was wanting, they hesitated not to im- 
molate the aged and the innocent. And the 
spirit of their religion exercised such an in- 
fluence over the minds of their people, that many, 
on the more solemn occasions of their religious 
ceremonies, offered themselves as victims, to 
appease the anger, or to propitiate the favour of 
their gods. 

The animals sacrificed by them were generally 
the bull, the cow, the horse, the ass, the boar- 
pig, the sow, the goat, and the sheep. Of 
these, some were offered to one god, and some 
to another, as was the case with those nations, 
which, in all probability, had borrowed from them 
in these matters, that is, the Romans, and the 
Greeks. There are still traditions and names of 



70 



THE DRUIDS. 



places in the country which clearly indicate the 
peculiar kinds of victims which were offered up 
in certain localities in these Druidical times. 
For instance, here at Castlemary, near Ros- 
tellan, is a Druidical altar; and a place in 
the immediate neighbourhood of it, is called 
Bohicr-na-bo-finne } that is, " the road of the 
white cow." Leaba-na-bo-finne y that is, " the 
death stone, or altar of the white cow," still 
lives there, too, in the language of the people. 
The road of the white cow, which comes from 
the north-west, towards the altar, was the passage 
through which, according to ancient usage, and 
mystical rite, the victim, that is, the white cow, 
was brought, or driven to be sacrificed. In 
total ignorance of this fact, the people, whose 
very language preserves the memory of these 
things, will tell you that this was a fairy, or en- 
chanted cow, which made mysterious journeys 
through the country. At one place they say 
it met the bull ; at another place it gave away 
its all-healing milk ; at another it drank the 
water of its cherished well ; and at another place 
it browsed till morning on its favourite meadow. 
The Irish term for enchanted, is fe Dhraoid- 
heachd, that is " under Druidism ;" because 
these priests had the reputation of being won- 
derfully skilled in the arts of astrology, sorcery, 
and magic. It is this term, when speaking of 
the cow, and its wanderings, that the people of 
the district employ. 



THE DRUIDS. 



71 



According to ancient mythology, the white 
cow was sacrificed to the celestial deities ; the 
black cow to the infernal deities ; and the red 
or brown cow to the terrestrial deities. It is a 
singular fact, that while in Ireland, there are 
many places called after the name of the white 
cow, and of the red or brown cow, there is sel- 
dom or never any mention of the black cow in 
connexion with these Druidical remains. This 
is accounted for on the supposition, that with 
the Druids, who were believers in the doctrines of 
the metempsychosis, or transmigration of souls, 
a belief in the existence of the infernal regions 
and infernal deities, did not form a part of 
religion at all. The souls of the good and of 
the virtuous were, according to them, transferred 
after a few happy transmigrations, to the circle 
of happiness ; w r hile the souls of the wicked 
passed into the bodies of the lower animals, 
perhaps for many successions and generations, 
till at last, they were cleansed and purified by 
that terrible process. The names of the boar- 
pig, of the sow, of the horse, of the ass, and of 
other animals, still cling to many localities ; and 
though these are made enchanted, or fairy beings 
by popular legends, it is likely that they origin- 
ated in the Druidical religion, and the Druidical 
sacrifice. In illustration of this, it may be 
stated, that on the sea-coast, near Trabolgan, on 
the eastern side of the entrance to the harbour 



/ 



72 



THE DRUIDS. 



of Queenstown, is a place called the Teampul, 
or Temple. In it are lying large flat stones, 
which have always been called by the name of 
Leaca-na-ncach, that is, " the stones of the horses." 
This was probably a temple of the sun, where, 
on the verge of the cliff, horses were sacrificed 
to that luminary as it rose in its majesty above 
the surface of the waves. The name of the 
horse is associated with many other places in Ire- 
land, probably for the same reason. 

Caesar tells us that the Druids had their sacred 
animals, which they neither ate nor offered in 
sacrifice. They were, as well as we can learn 
from the Latin names, the hare, the hen, and the 
goose. These they bred, however, and kept for 
ornament, and, perhaps, for some other use or 
object now unknown. It is difficult to under- 
stand that at least all the varieties of these useful 
birds should be so regarded by them ; but pos- 
sibly the prohibition, or the sacredness, extended 
only to certain species of them. 

As a consequence, manifestly, of this belief, 
certain ideas and impressions bordering on the 
wonderful and the superstitious, exist to this day 
among the peasantry of Ireland, with respect 
to these animals, said to have been held sacred 
by the Druids. Great importance, especially at 
night, is attached sometimes to the crowing of 
the cock ; and a hen that crows is held in abso- 
lute detestation. It is believed that by the 



THE DRUIDS. 



73 



crowing of the cock at early morn or after mid- 
night, all sprites and ghosts are obliged to quit 
the haunts of men, and retire at once to their 
own world of spirits. Similar ideas, and super- 
stitions, respecting this graceful and favourite 
bird, prevail in other countries too. He who was 
always the domestic sentinel to give warning of 
approaching day, and to call men to their toils, 
their cares, or their pilgrimages, must have made 
a lively impression on the mind and the imagina- 
tion, at all times and in all countries. 

Possibly, the cock alone of his tribe was the 
privileged bird, for this was a maxim of 
Pythagoras — " Feed the cock, but sacrifice him 
not ; because he is sacred to the sun and the 
moon." 

Peculiar impressions also prevail among the 
peasantry of this country respecting the hare. 
They hesitate not to chase him, and to eat him 
when caught ; but it is believed that the witch 
comes sometimes in the shape of a hare, to take 
away the milk of the cows, or inflict some other 
injury, and that such a hare can never be cap- 
tured by either spear, trap, or hound. How often 
is the sportsman, in his disappointment and 
failure, heard to exclaim that the " rascal of a 
hare," which he has been pursuing, and which 
had foiled him so often before, is not a hare at 
all, but a witch. How wonderfully do these 
traditions illustrate and verify the statement of 

E 



74 



THE DRUIDS, 



Caesar, respecting the sacred animals of the 
Druids. 

The writer has not been able to trace any 
peculiar ideas among our people respecting the 
goose, There is, indeed, among them a bad 
wish conveyed in these words — " Imtheachd ghe 
an Main ort" which means, " may your departure 
be that of the island goose ;" that is, may you 
go and never return. But whether this originated 
in any Druidical notions respecting the bird 
is uncertain. The goose is, indeed, a great 
favourite, though a noisy adjunct to the home- 
stead, and no small terror to youngsters. He is 
a grave and wakeful sentinel, whose cry of alarm 
was, perhaps, often useful in giving notice of the 
approach of the robber or of the beast of prey. 
The Romans had a great veneration for the 
goose, because it was stated that on a most 
important occasion his cries had prevented the 
enemy from seizing on their Capitol; but, perhaps, 
their veneration for the bird was due to the more 
ancient Druidical ideas, and that he gave this 
important alarm while enjoying the privileges of 
his sanctity in the fortress. 

When sacrificing, the Druid wore on his head 
a chaplet formed of the leaves of his favourite 
oak. He was then generally clad in a white 
tunic ; an egg, or mysterious badge, was sus- 
pended by a string from his neck, and he made 
use of certain mystical, or appropriate gestures, 



THE DRUIDS. 



75 



accompanied by prayers, incantations, and spells. 
The words and sentences uttered by him were, 
generally, in rhyme, and always pronounced from 
memory, The prayers and sentences required 
for these purposes were so numerous and varied, 
that it took many years of hard study and severe 
discipline from the young aspirant to the priest- 
hood to store them up in his mind. All these 
once-important Druidical rhymes and wild rhap- 
sodies have died and passed away, with the 
exception of a few fragments in the forms or 
words of certain charms, or spells, which are still 
found stored up in the memory of persons in 
different parts of the country. 

It was a part of the Druidical ceremony to 
move round the altar while the incantations were 
being uttered, or sung ; and that movement took 
place in such a way as to have the altar and the 
victim on the right side, or, in other words, to 
follow the course of the sun. Hence, in augury, 
the right side was lucky, and the left unlucky; a 
feeling, or superstition, of which there may be 
found vestiges existing even at this very day. It 
appears that the victim was slain on the north side 
of the altar, that the blood was poured on the altar 
from the west, and that from the same point the 
procession and other ceremonies were inaugurated. 
It is a curious fact that the names of the cardinal 
points, in the Celtic language, are derived from 
the position of the Druid as he faced the mystic 



7 6 



THE DRUIDS, 



and magical east, at sacrifice or at prayer. Deas 
means right, and it also means south or southern, 
as being on the right hand, Tuath means left, 
and it also means north, or northern, for a similar 
reason. Iar is behind, and it also means west, 
or western. Oir signifies fore-part, or beginning ; 
and thus it also means the east, or eastern, or 
rising of the sun ; for to that point the Druid 
always turned the face at sacrifice and prayer, 
Sior, or soir, the east, is formed from sia, "far off," 
and oir, " fore-part" Star, the west, from sia, 
" far off," and iar "behind." Odheas, the south, is 
formed from o, "from," and deas, "the right." 
OtJmatJi, the north, from o, " from," and tuath, 
" the left." 

The egg, or mysterious badge, or talisman, 
suspended from the neck of the Druid on the 
occasion of sacrifice and other ministerial func- 
tions, was, perhaps, the most singular and strik- 
ing part of his attire. It was the chief distin- 
guishing emblem of his office at the judgment 
seat, as well as at the altar. This egg, a mystery 
in itself, and full of varied mystic meaning, was 
not the production of any fowl, wild or tame, 
foreign or native. In all probability the source 
from which it was derived, or the manner in 
which it was produced, was kept a profound 
secret, and cannot, by any means, be conjectured 
at present. From the popular stories that were 
current about it, the industrious Latin writer, Pliny, 
gives the following account, which, probably, he 



THE DRUIDS. 



77 



himself ranked with the marvellous and the im- 
possible. " There is, besides, a kind of egg held 
in high estimation by the inhabitants of all the 
Gauls, unnoticed by Greek writers. It is called 
the serpent's egg, and in order to produce it an 
immense number of serpents, twisted together in 
summer, are rolled up in an artificial folding by 
the saliva of their mouths and the slime of their 
bodies. The Druids say that this egg is tossed 
on high with hissings, and that it must be inter- 
cepted in a cloak before it reaches the ground. The 
person who seizes it flies on horseback ; for the 
serpents pursue him till they are stopped by the 
intervention of some river. The proof of this 
egg is, that though bound in gold it will swim 
against the stream. And as the Magi (Druids) 
are very artful and cunning in concealing their 
frauds, they pretend that this egg can only be 
obtained at a certain time of the moon, as if this 
operation of the serpents could be rendered con- 
gruous to human determination. I have, indeed, 
seen that egg, of the size of an ordinary round 
apple, worn by the Druids, in a chequered cover, 
resembling the numerous calculi in the arms of 
a polypus. Its virtue is highly extolled for gain- 
ing law suits, and procuring access to kings ; and 
it is worn with such great ostentation, that I knew 
a Roman, by birth a Vocantian, who was slain 
by the Emperor Claudius for no other cause 
whatever, except wearing one of these eggs on 
his breast during the dependence of a law suit." 



78 



THE DRUIDS. 



A multitude of mystic meanings is drawn 
from these wonderful facts mentioned by Pliny 
in connexion with the Druid's egg. Its produc- 
tion by the serpents, and its swimming against 
the stream, are, it is stated, mere allegories of 
caution, wisdom, union, strength, and persever- 
ance. But in this serpent's egg there lies a 
deeper meaning than appears on the surface, or 
than, perhaps, presented itself to the eye of the 
Latin writer. 

With most of the ancient Pagan nations the 
serpent was an object of great veneration, and 
even, sometimes, of divine worship. How such 
honours could have been bestowed on an animal 
so odious and repulsive, it is not easy to conjec- 
ture. Perhaps it was on account of the cunning 
for which that reptile is proverbial, or in conse- 
quence of some dark and perverted traditions 
connected with the origin and fall of the first 
man. This latter conjecture derives no small 
confirmation from the fact, that serpent-worship 
and tree-worship went, generally, hand-in-hand, 
among these Pagan nations, For instance, the 
Druids had a great veneration for the oak. 

Most persons are acquainted with that emblem 
of time and eternity, a serpent biting its tail, in 
the form of a circle, which has come down to us 
from the highest antiquity. This figure was so 
adopted because the serpent itself was regarded 
as an emblem of the deity, and, in many instances, 



THE DRUIDS. 



79 



even a god. It was in great repute with the sor- 
cerer and enchanter, and in some countries, con- 
tinues so still The origin of serpent worship is 
traced to ancient Chaldea, which, it appears, was 
the cradle of Druidism. In various countries 
this singular creed, or idolatry, was known under 
the titles of oub y ob, ops y ophis, python, &c, all 
meaning a serpent The famous Witch of Endor 
is called cub, or ob y which in the Chaldee or 
Hebrew, signifies "the serpent/' and a famous 
soothsayer of antiquity was named Ophioneus, 
from op his, meaning "a serpent/' in Greek. The 
priestess of the famous oracle of Delphi was 
called Pythia, that is, " the serpent," or " of the 
sefpent." Thus, -from some cause unknown, the 
serpent and serpent-worship embraced that im- 
portant portion of ancient mythology which is 
known under the designation of witchcraft, sor- 
cery, and magic, but which was then regarded 
as a mysterious power, by which the priest or 
priestess moved the invisible world, influenced 
the actions and the motives of men, divined the 
will of the gods, and foretold future events. 

The Druids professed to possess these powers, 
that is, to be skilled in divination and sorcery, 
and hence their adoption of the serpent's egg, or, 
perhaps, more properly, the serpent itself. From 
the ancient mythology of Egypt, we learn that 
the serpent was held in high veneration there, and 
that the priests had the representation of serpents 



8o 



THE DRUIDS. 



on their bonnets. The badge suspended from 
the neck of the Druid was, probably, not an egg, 
but a dead serpent, rolled up in the form of a 
ball, or of " a round apple," as Pliny expresses 
it. The skin would exhibit those colours or varie- 
gated streaks, which he compares to the appear- 
ance of the polypus. But why was it supposed 
to be an egg ? Most likely from the similarity 
in sound of the old cabalistic Chaldee or Hebrew 
word otib, signifying "a serpent," and the Celtic 
word tibh, which means " an egg." A person 
not versed in the mysteries of the Druidical 
profession, hearing the word oub (serpent) pro- 
nounced, would have easily mistaken it for the 
familiar name of ubh, or egg, in the vulgar lan- 
guage. No doubt there are such things as ser- 
pents' eggs. They vary in size, according to 
the size of the species by which they are pro- 
duced ; but the serpent itself would have been 
a more expressive symbol of the sun, of time, 
and eternity, according to mythological rite, 
and also, more in accordance with the usages 
that prevailed among various Pagan nations. 
According to this supposition, those strange 
features, such as jumping high into the air, moving 
with rapidity, and swimming against the stream, 
as mentioned by Pliny, would be of compara- 
tively easy explanation. 

Even in parts of America, especially in Mexico, 
serpent worship was once common ; and at 



THE DRUIDS. 



81 



Dahomey, in Africa, at the present day, it forms 
the sole, or chief, religion of the country. There, 
for this purpose, are kept thousands of snakes, 
all descended, it is said, from the great primeval 
serpent, whatever that was. It is suspected that 
the Caduceus, or wonder-working rod of Mer- 
cury, adorned with two serpents, was derived 
from Druidical ideas. 

I have not been able to discover any distinct 
traces or vestiges of the Druid's egg, either in 
the language or traditions of the people of this 
country. But there is a general, constant, and 
unfailing tradition, which says that Saint Patrick 
banished serpents out of Ireland. In ancient 
pictures and carved figures of the saint, he is 
represented with the serpent flying before him, 
or coiled dead, around, or near the lower end of 
his crozier. How is this to be explained, or ac- 
counted for, in reference to an animal which, as 
far as history can reach, was never known to 
exist in Ireland, and which, whether it is owing 
to the influence of the soil or of climate, or of 
both, cannot prolong its existence there ? Our 
ancient annals, reaching far beyond the Christian 
era, give an account of the various strange acci- 
dents by which men sometimes lost their lives ; 
but they contain no instance of death or danger 
occurring from the bite of a serpent, nor, indeed,, 
any reference to that dreaded creature, as existing 
in the country. 



82 



THE DRUIDS. 



It is most likely the tradition originated in the 
fact that the reign of the Druidical priests, or of 
the serpents, as they were, probably, called, was 
abolished by the mission and ministry of Saint 
Patrick, and that the country no longer witnessed 
the spectacle of a venomous reptile, dead, alive, 
or in embryo, adorning the breast of the public 
minister of religion. This is a natural, and, as I 
believe, the true meaning of the tradition, or 
legend. Perhaps the dead or flying serpent was 
intended simply to mean that he was the Apostle 
of the country so highly favoured as to have in it 
no venomous reptile. Most of the great saints 
had their peculiar distinctive marks. In an 
age of poetry, allegory, and romance, some strik- 
ing object or event, in connexion with the life 
or labours of a saint, was selected as his 
emblematical badge. Thus, Saint George of 
England has a dragon, Saint Clement an anchor, 
and the martyred Saint Denis, of Paris, was re- 
presented with his head under his arm. The 
popular mind, so fond of legend, allegory, and 
wonder, often founded on these emblems the most 
extravagant stories. 

The circumstance of a running stream, or 
river, not being passable to the witch or fairy, 
still lives in our popular traditions, which are, 
so far, confirmatory of the words of Pliny. It will 
be illustrated by an incident that occurred in this 
neighbourhood a short time ago, and the rela- 



THE DRUIDS. 



83 



tion of it may be as agreeable to the reader as 
it is to the writer, after this grim subject of the 
serpents and their eggs. 

Near Queenstown is a place called the East 
Ferry, a calm, beautiful, and picturesque spot, 
where a fairy would like to dwell, especially in 
summer. From time immemorial a ferry-boat 
has been established there to convey travellers 
and traders from one side of the river to the 
other. It was at one time, when trains and 
steamers were unknown, the great passage and 
thoroughfare to the markets of old Cove and 
of Cork. The smaller ferry-boat is, at present, 
manned by a tall, brawny-armed oarsman, whose 
name is Paddy Higgins. He is, besides, a good 
piper, and can sing a good song, and thus 
combines in himself the triple character of water- 
man, poet, and musician. But his dress partakes 
more of the land than of the sea. He never 
appears in the short jacket and peculiar head- 
gear which watermen generally wear. His dress 
always exhibits the long coat and high- crowned 
hat of the peasant, as more befitting an occa- 
sional worker on the farm, and an humble 
representative of the old musical bards of his 
country. 

One fine night in summer, just an hour or two 
after dark, as he was standing on his own side of 
the ferry, after having secured his boat at its 
mooring-place, he heard a loud, shrill whistle 



8 4 



THE DRUIDS. 



coming from the opposite shore. Thinking that 
it was some traveller who wanted a ferry, Paddy- 
put out his boat in all haste, and was soon at the 
opposite side. Not a living being was there to 
require his services. He rowed back the boat in 
a hurry, but her keel had scarcely touched the 
shore, when he heard another beautiful whistle, 
even louder than the first, coming from the west- 
ern bank again. Paddy, in his anger, muttered 
some hard things on the perverse stupidity of the 
wanderer, whoever he was, but he turned towards 
him the bow of his boat, and soon reached the 
opposite side. All was silence as before. No 
one appeared, nor w r as there any response 
to Paddy's repeated — " Halloo, is there any one 
there ? " except the solemn echo of the hills. 
With a feeling of disappointment and anger, he 
rowed the boat quickly back. Just as he was 
taking leave of the craft, after having secured her 
at her mooring, three whistles in rapid succession 
— the most beautiful he had ever heard — pene- 
trated his ears. 

Paddy, as a musician, had a very quick ear for 
sound. " That whistle," said he to himself, " never 
came from mortal lips, and I thought there was 
something of the same kind about the other 
whistles I heard before." He reflected for a 
moment. He remembered the local stories 
which said that the " good people" were fond of 
that place, especially at that hour of the night. 



THE DRUIDS. 



85 



His feelings now alternated between awe, hope, 
and fear; but, wishing that they would be always 
friendly to him at that often dangerous post, he 
stirred up his courage, and, returning breathless 
to the boat, he unloosed the rope, grasped the 
oars, and was soon on the opposite side. When 
the craft grated on the shore, he put out the 
movable gangway or stepping-plank, and then 
retired reverently towards the stern. An invita- 
tion to embark was given in a manly but respect- 
ful tone. " Come on, friends, now," said he, 
" ten minutes are allowed you to enter, and you 
shall have a free ferry over from me." 

Paddy's sense of hearing was silently exercised 
to its utmost tension at that solemn moment. 
Perhaps it was the gentle rippling of the waves, 
but he imagined that he heard invisible feet 
gliding up the plank, and streaming to the side- 
seats of the boat. A little more than the ten 
minutes having passed, according to his mental 
calculation, he hauled in the plank with reverence 
and awe, and rowed back the boat without utter- 
ing a syllable. He saw nobody ; but from the 
steady bearing of the boat in the water, and her 
weight on the oars, he calculated that she was 
very full. 

On reaching the opposite side the plank 
was again put out, and ten minutes allowed them 
to land, after which, in his usual phrase, the oars- 
man wished them all " good luck and a safe 



86 



THE DRUIDS. 



journey." The boat was then secured to the 
mooring-post, and, though he remained near it 
for a considerable time, not a whistle nor a 
whisper was heard any more by him that night. 

They were, in Paddy's estimation, the " good 
people" of Bally more graveyard, w T ho were com- 
ing to visit their friends of the graveyard of 
Gurrawn, on the opposite side of the river. 

Paddy did not conceal the strange occurrence 
from friend or foe. I have heard the story from 
him myself. Paddy is a very correct, sober, 
and industrious man, but some of his neighbours 
suspected that he was a little mellow that 
evening, and in somewhat an elevated and 
poetic mood. In any case he was not the less 
capacitated to receive and transmit those tra- 
ditions of ancient fairy-tale which had come 
down to him, through, perhaps, thousands of 
years, from the old Druid of Rostellan, whose 
altar and judgment seat still stand near the 
verge of that beautiful salt lake and river, where 
Paddy, with his oars, has been for many a long 
day earning an honest and honourable subsis- 
tence. 

As we have already seen, Druidism dedicated 
every day in the w T eek to one of their gods, and 
probably assigned to it special religious obser- 
vances. But there were four periods or seasons 
of the year, at which the public worship was 
conducted on a scale of extraordinary magni- 



THE DRUIDS. 



87 



ficence. The names of these seasons are still 
preserved in the Irish language, as commonly- 
spoken by the people. The first was Niiadhullig, 
which corresponds with Christmas, and is still, 
in Irish, the name of Christmas. The second 
was Beiltinne, which corresponds with May, and 
is still the Irish name of May. The third was 
Lunas, which corresponds with the month of 
August, and is still the Irish name of that 
period. The fourth was Samhain (or La-Samhnd) y 
corresponding with the month of November, of 
which it is still the name in the Irish language. 

What were the principal religious observances 
of that period called Nuadhullig, Christmas ? 

Niiadhidlig, or Nodhlag, is an abbreviation of 
N aadh-iiile-iceadh, which means the New All- 
heal, that is, the New Mistletoe. At that period, 
when the new year was about to commence, the 
Druidical priests assembled in a large body 
outside the dwellings of their people, and set up 
the shout of Nuadh-irile-iceadli ! Nuadh-uile 
iceadh ! New All-heal ! New All-heal ! This 
was the thrilling note which announced that 
they were going to the woods in search of their 
sacred plant, the mistletoe. Immediately, all 
the people flocked around them to join in the 
solemn procession. 

On reaching the forest they made the most 
diligent search for the plant, and when it was 
found, especially if growing upon their favourite 



88 



THE DRUIDS. 



oak, they gave expression to their great joy in 
loud shouts of exultation. Then, with much 
ceremony and form, the priest, highest in dignity 
amongst them, ascended the tree, and with a 
golden pruning-knife cut from its branches the 
divine plant, which was received by those below 
in a large linen cloth of unspotted whiteness. 
Two white bulls, which had been conducted to 
the place for that purpose, were sacrificed to the 
gods ; after which, the Mistletoe, or wonderful 
All-heal, was brought home in solemn pro- 
cession, amidst shouts of joy, mingled with 
prayers, incantations, and hymns. Then fol- 
lowed a general religious feast, and a prolonged 
scene of boisterous merry enjoyment, to whicl 
all were admitted without any distinction. 

A curious and particular account of this 
ceremony of the All-heal is given by the Latin 
writer, Pliny, in the 1 6th Book and 44th 
chapter of his Natural History. His words are, 
" The Druids (for so they call their Magi), have 
nothing more sacred than the mistletoe, and the 
tree on which it grows, provided it be an oak. 
They select particular groves of oaks, and per- 
form no sacred rites without oak leaves, so that 
from this custom they may seem to have been 
called Druids according to the Greek derivation. 
For they think that whatever grows on these 
trees is sent to them from heaven, and is a proof 
that the tree itself is chosen by the deity. But 



THE DRUIDS. 



8 9 



the plant is very rarely found, and when found 
is sought for with the greatest religious ardour, 
and principally in the sixth moon, which is the 
beginning of their months and years, and when 
the tree is thirty years old, because it is then 
not only half grown, but has attained its full 
vigour. They call it All-HEALING in their own 
language ; and having prepared sacrifices and 
feasts under the tree with great solemnity, they 
bring up two white bulls, whose horns are then 
first bound. The priest, clothed in a white 
garment, ascends the tree, and cuts it off with a 
golden pruning knife, and it is received in a 
white sheet or cloth. Then they sacrifice the 
victims, and pray that God would render his 
own gift prosperous to those on whom he has 
bestowed it. They believe that, administered in 
a potion, it will impart fecundity to any barren 
animal, and that it is a remedy against all kinds 
of poison." 

Pliny renders the name uile-iceadh (pro- 
nounced uil-eekey), all-healing, very accurately 
in his own language, by the term, omnia-sanans. 
It appears that the sixth moon, in which it 
was gathered, counted from the beginning of 
August, when the great religious feasts and 
solemnities of Lunas took place in honour 
of the moon. The mistletoe is a graceful 
branchy plant, which grows, like wood-ferns, on 
the branches of the oak, the apple, the pear, 



go 



THE DRUIDS, 



the hazel, the elm, and various other trees. It 
will not grow on the beech, holly, or walnut. 
Climate affects it much. It is seldom found in 
some localities, though abundant in others ; but 
under the care and culture of the Druids it was 
made to take root in almost every orchard and 
forest. It grows to about the height of twc 
feet. It is of an olive-green colour; but, with the 
toning influence of age, assumes a yellow or 
golden hue, and looks very pretty, with its 
white berries, in winter. It is now, perhaps, 
impossible to account for the veneration in which 
it was held, and the wonderful qualities which 
it was supposed to possess. Religion, legend, 
and poetry, threw a halo of power and mystery 
around it. Even it has been gathered by the 
muse of Virgil to grace the beauty of his im- 
mortal lines. In the sixth book of the JEneid, 
is a beautiful passage, describing the interview 
between ^Eneas and the Cumaean Sibyl. It is 
too long to be inserted here, but the allusion to 
the " golden branch," and to its power over even 
the invisible world, will justify a short quotation 
from it. 

When the Trojan hero had formed the resolu- 
tion of visiting the realms of Pluto in search of 
his deceased father, he applied to this famous 
priestess for instruction and counsel in the matter. 
She informed him that, even for the son of a 
goddess, it was a most perilous undertaking ; 



THE DRUIDS. 



91 



but that it may be accomplished with the aid of 
a certain golden branch which grew in the dark 
recesses of the forest. "A branch with golden 
leaves and a slender stalk," she said, " is con- 
cealed in a dark tree, and no one can descend 
to the infernal regions till he has first plucked this 
plant from its parent trunk." By the guidance 
of two mysterious doves, ^Eneas discovers the 
treasure in the woods. It is thus described : — - 
" Such was the appearance of this golden branch 
on the dark oak, as when the mistletoe doth 
flourish with new vigour in the woods during 
the winter's cold." 

It is manifest that the poet had here in view 
the sacred plant of the Druids. Nor was it in 
this case without its utility. On the verge of 
the Stygian lake the progress of the hero was 
opposed, with wrath and threatening accents, by 
the grim Charon, thus :— 

" Mortal, whoe'er thou art, in arms arrayed, 
Stand off ; approach not; but, at distance, say, 
Why to these waters dar'st thou bend thy way ?" 

But the appearance of the branch disarmed his 
anger — 

1 4 Then show'd the bough that lay beneath the vest ; 
At once his rising wrath was hushed to rest, 
At once stood reconcil'd the ruthless god, 
And bowed with reverence to the golden rod. " 

That was, surely, a high character for sacred- 



9 2 



THE DRUIDS. 



ness and mysterious power, which reached up 
even beyond the foundation of Rome. And yet, 
in all probability, the reputation of the All-heal 
of the Druids ascended many ages higher. We 
have no means of ascertaining all the uses to 
which it was converted. It appears that at the 
great annual solemnity the plant was broken or 
cut up in small fragments by the Druids, and 
distributed to the people as a remedy against 
all evil, and the pledge or harbinger of every 
good. Even the tree on which it was found grow- 
ing was not without its reputed virtue. It appears 
that it, too, was cut down and distributed in 
small logs to the people for their fires, and that 
no small virtue was attached to the half-burnt 
fragments of them. 

Of all these proceedings and ceremonies we 
have still living traditions in Ireland. Persons 
proceed to the woods to bring home the Christ- 
mas tree and the Christmas branches, and as the 
All-heal cannot often be found, its place is 
abundantly supplied by the holly and the ivy. 
With these the cottage is adorned, as also the 
temples of religion. Even the uile-eekey, or All- 
heal, is brought from great distances for the 
occasion, by those whose circumstances enable 
them to procure it in that way. But what was 
once in honour of Paganism, is now in honour of 
Christianity, and to celebrate the great festival 
of Christmas. 



THE DRUIDS. 



93 



Nor is the famous log ever forgotten. In 
Irish it is called bloc-na-nuadJi-uile-iceadh, abbre- 
viated, bloc-na-nodhlog, that is, the log or block 
of the new All-heal. It is a singular fact that 
other countries still retain a fragment of this 
word All-heal, as the name for Christmas, and, 
yet, even the learned there are totally ignorant 
of its meaning. 

The word, Yule, has puzzled all the antiqua- 
ries of England and Scotland, and they have 
given it up in despair. It is simply an abbrevia- 
tion of Uile-lci, which means All-heal, the Celtic 
name of that season, now called Christmas. In 
France, another Celtic country, the name of 
Christmas is Noel, a term that has completely 
baffled all their antiquarian researches. Some 
there think it comes from Emmanuel, or from the 
Latin word Nativitas, nativity, or from Nova, 
new things, or news. It is simply formed of 
Nuadh and Uile, that is No-ule, an abbreviation 
of the Celtic term, meaning new All-heal. 

Thus it is that the fossil, here dug up whole 
and entire from the Irish soil, indicates the 
species to which the disjointed members found 
in other countries are to be assigned. 

A most expressive emblem, thus, of Christ- 
mas is the branch of mistletoe, which, in the 
Celtic language, has given a name, for centuries 
without number, to that season of the year ; and 
when properly understood, and purified from the 



94 



THE DRUIDS. 



grossness which, in some instances, a depraved 
custom has attached to it, its presence will, not 
inappropriately, typify the great All-heal of the 
Christians, that is, the birth of a Redeemer. 

The great ceremonies of Beil-tinne, which took 
place in May, were undoubtedly performed in 
honour of the god Beal. Beal-tinne means 
the fire of Beal. The sun being the great 
visible object of the worship of the Druids, 
fire, which for the occasion was procured by some 
simple mechanism from its rays, was made a 
particular object of veneration at this season of 
the year, when the grand luminary had already 
commenced to ascend high in the heavens and 
exercise its influence on the face of the earth. 

Beal was the universal name of God, or of the 
Great Spirit and Universal Being, among the 
Druidical nations. They believed that this Great 
Spirit united himself to certain great bodies in 
the universe, especially and pre-eminently to the 
sun, and to every other body containing fire or 
light. Their belief was something like that which 
the shade of Anchises explained to his son, 
^Eneas, in the sixth book of the ^Eneid of Virgil : 

"Know, first, a Spirit with an active flame, 
Fills, feeds, and animates the mighty frame ; 
Runs through the wat'ry worlds and fields of air, 
The ponderous earth, the depths of the heav'n, and there 
Burns in the sun and moon, and every brilliant star. 
Thus, mingling with the mass, the general soul 
Lives in the parts, and agitates the whole." 



THE DRUIDS. 



95 



The word Beal is supposed to be formed from 
bi (pronounced bee,) " living, or being, or life," 
and utle, "all," that is, all life, the life of all, or 
the Universal Being, which corresponds perfectly 
with the " fills, feeds, and animates," of the poet, 
in the above passage. 

It is now impossible to ascertain the particu- 
lar ceremonies that marked the celebration of the 
Fire-worship, or Beil-tinne, among the Celts. It 
appears, however, that the fresh fire, like that of 
the vestals at Rome, was procured from the rays 
of the sun ; and that previously all the fires in 
the country were ordered to be extinguished at 
a certain time, and to continue so till the first 
religious fire was lighted at night, on the top of 
the Carn, or high hill, by the Druids. Then was 
lighted a fire on the next hill, and on the next, 
and so on, till the entire country was in a sacred 
blaze. Feasts and sacrifices followed. Victims 
were given to the flames, and among them, prob- 
ably, were included human beings. As on all 
other occasions of prayer and sacrifice, both 
priests and people placed themselves at the west 
of the fires, with their faces turned to the mys- 
tical and magical east. Most probably these 
ceremonies took place at an advanced hour of 
the night, and were continued till morning, 
when the sun, the great form of Beal, appeared 
in his glory above the horizon. 

Was this veneration or worship rendered by 



9 6 



THE DRUIDS. 



the Druids to fire, a corruption of any ancient 
truth, or primitive revelation ? We know that 
among the people, who had received and re- 
tained the true and original revelation, light, 
or fire, was an emblem of the Deity. God ap- 
peared to Moses in the burning bush, and He 
went before the Israelites, in a pillar of light, 
on their great journey through the desert. In 
various passages of the sacred writings, it is 
stated that God is light. It was ordained that 
there should be lights in the temple, and in it 
was kept the sacred fire, which had descended 
from heaven to consume the sacrifices. Pos- 
sibly the delusion and corruption, which, among 
the Druids, made a god of more than one of 
God's creatures, reached this point of fire also, 
perverting and confounding both the object and 
the emblem. It is stated that from the fires 
lighted by the Druids on this solemn occasion, 
the people carried home burning brands, or live 
embers, with which to rekindle the domestic 
hearths, and that the seed of it, siol na tinne, 
was preserved and continued among them till 
the next anniversary of Beil-tinne again. In 
an age of lucifer matches, and almost spon- 
taneous ignition, like the present, it is not easy 
to comprehend the care and attention, and even 
the difficulty, with which the " seed of the fire," 
as it was called, was preserved in past times. 
The Druids believed that in this way they kept 



THE DRUIDS. 



97 



the sacred fire of Beal perpetually burning, and 
that great were the benefits which their people 
derived from its presence and influence among 
them. Even the fields, at this season, received 
portions of it, to ensure a fruithful year and an 
abundant harvest. It is likely that the sacred 
fire of ancient Rome, which was committed to 
the care of the vestal virgins, was borrowed 
from Druidism. 

In what part of the country the first fire was 
lighted on these occasions, is not exactly known. 
But as the hill of Uisneach, in Meath — the navel 
of Ireland, as it was called in the language of 
Mythology — was honoured with the residence 
and the altar of the Arch-Druid, it is likely that 
the first flame issued from that place, and thence 
flew, from hill to hill, with almost the rapidity 
of lightning. The electric telegraph of modern 
times is a speedy messenger, and yet it could 
scarcely traverse the land with greater velocity 
than the Beal fire of the Druids. Some say 
that the first fire was lighted on the hill of 
Tara. 

There was a sort of poetry and of mystery 
about this system which, certainly, exercised a 
powerful fascination over the human mind. 
The altar and the earn of the Druid have been 
deserted for ages ; and yet, to this day, there 
are living vestiges and memorials of his anni- 
versary fire, in Ireland. At a certain period of 

F 



9 8 



THE DRUIDS. 



the summer, when the shades of evening gather 
over the face of the land, flames of fire are 
seen to spring like magic, from hill to hill, 
through the whole expanse of the country. 
They are also lighted in the hamlets and vil- 
lages, and in many of the towns. A few of 
these take place at Beil-tinne, that is, at the 
beginning of May ; but the great blaze is re- 
served for the eve of the nativity of St. John 
the Baptist, the 23rd of June. 

These are evidently a remnant of the ancient 
Beal fires. But why do they chiefly occur on the 
night before the festival of the saint, instead of 
the old period of Beil-tinne, which was the be- 
ginning of May ? I do not believe that a satis- 
factory explanation of this circumstance has been 
yet given by any of our antiquaries. It was, 
perhaps, to transfer the practice or custom of 
lighting these fires from a Pagan to a Christian 
object, The Nativity of Saint John the Baptist 
was a great and solemn festival of the Church. 
Like those of the other great festivals of martyrs, 
the eve or vigil of it was, in the early ages, com- 
memorated with appropriate ceremonies. The 
public devotions were kept up all night in the 
churches of which the saint was the patron ; and 
the solemnities of the next day were ushered in 
amidst types and figures appropriate to the occa- 
sion. Among these was probably introduced a 
large and unusual exhibition of lights to typify 



THE DRUIDS. 



99 



the Baptist, who, in the Gospel, is called, by the 
Saviour himself, " a burning and shining light." 
What could have been more natural than that 
the early Christian missioners would have directed 
the people to light their anniversary fires on the 
eve of this saint, and thus give to the national 
custom a Christian instead of a Pagan object? 
To this feeling, most likely, are due the transfer 
of the fires to the 23rd of June, and perhaps, too, 
their perpetuation to this day among the people. 
The seventh and eighth centuries were periods of 
plagues and other physical calamities in Ireland. 
Our ancient annals state that at that time some 
wild prophecies, respecting a fiery blast which 
was to sweep over the land and destroy most of 
the inhabitants, about the festival of Saint John, 
greatly agitated the minds of all classes in the 
country. Could the fires of Saint John's Eve 
have had any connexion with these alarming 
predictions ? 

Still, perhaps, the fires of the 24th of June 
were fixed for that time by Druidical rite. In 
Wilcock's " History of Russia," it is stated that 
the ancient tribes of that country had a god 
named Kupalo, the patron deity of the fruits 
of the earth, in whose honour they lighted fires 
on the 24th of June. The youths of both sexes, 
it says, adorned with wreaths and garlands of 
flowers, met in dance, and leaped nimbly over 
the fires kindled on this occasion. This would 



IOO 



THE DRUIDS. 



correspond with the Irish custom, as the day 
commenced in the evening. 

An ancient popular custom of May-ing and 
May-poling, at this season of the year, still 
prevails in Ireland. There are now no means 
of ascertaining whether this anniversary visit to 
the woods, and the bringing home, in solemn 
procession, of the tree decorated with flags and 
flowers, could be any remnant of the Druidical 
ceremonies. Perhaps it was a substitute for 
them, and a popular remnant, or part, of some 
outdoor religious Christian ceremony of visiting 
and blessing the fields, which was calculated to 
engage the minds of the people, and withdraw 
them from the old Druidical practices. 

Among the various characters that formerly 
figured in these processions, was a person robed 
as a friar or a priest, which would seem to in- 
dicate that the custom had its origin in some 
ancient religious observance. How difficult it 
was to withdraw the minds of the people from 
the old heathen practices, may be inferred from 
the fact that, not very long ago, the herdsmen in 
the highlands of Scotland were accustomed, on 
May-day, to perform a kind of rustic charm and 
sacrifice they called beal-tinne, to secure, as they 
imagined, the protection of their flocks from all 
evil during the course of the year. If the May 
procession was originally of a religious character, 
the erection of the May-pole was evidently in- 



THE DRUIDS. 



IOI 



tended to be a memorial of it, and, perhaps, also, 
to indicate that it was to heaven men should 
look for the prosperity of the season and its 
fruits. 

In the history of the life of Saint Patrick, it is 
stated that it was at the period of the Fire- 
worship, and shortly after his arrival in Ireland, 
he appeared in the neighbourhood of Tara, 
where the kings, princes, and many of the 
Druidical priests were assembled at the great 
council of the nation. Here he intended to 
face the Paganism of the land in its great strong- 
hold. It was the Paschal time, and as it is 
stated, or perhaps surmised, Easter Saturday. 
In the religious office, at which the saint and his 
companions were engaged, the Paschal fire, or 
light, was exhibited according to the rule of the 
church. The appearance of this fire or light, at 
a time when all the fires of the country were 
extinguished, awaiting the usual signal from the 
Druids, excited the surprise and indignation of 
both the priests and nobles assembled at Tara. 
They rushed to the place of this violation of 
their rites, with the intention of punishing 
those who were guilty of the outrage. Their 
visit was received by Patrick with the calmness 
of a martyr ; and it is stated that the words of 
explanation and exhortation, which he addressed 
to them at that moment, made a deep impres- 
sion on their minds in favour of the divine- 



102 



THE DRUIDS. 



religion which, he said, he had come to preach 
to the people of the country. 

The circumstances of the relation of this event 
by the old writers, would appear to involve 
something like a chronological discrepancy. 
According to the strict rule for fixing the time 
of Easter, that solemnity can never be later than 
the 25th of April, whereas the Pagan cere- 
monies of Beil-tinne took place in the beginning 
of May. It may be that, in the absence of 
accurate chronological tables, an error of a few 
days might have occurred on one side, or the 
other, and that thus the two periods happened 
to coincide. Or it may be explained by sup- 
posing that Saint Patrick exhibited the Paschal 
light, not exactly on Easter Saturday, but on 
some day within the Paschal time, which extends 
to Ascension Thursday, a period which is 
always sure to include the first of May, and 
during which, on certain solemn days, the 
Paschal light was used at the morning and 
evening offices of the Church. Perhaps it was 
on a Sunday evening at Vespers, repeating his 
accustomed portions of the Psalms, the Saint 
was engaged, when the Paschal light attracted 
the attention of the Pagans. Another suppo- 
sition, not very probable however, is, that the 
Druids were, at this time, preparing for a fire- 
worship different from the great one of Beil- 
tinne or May, and that minor celebrations of 



THE DRUIDS. 



103 



that kind took place at, perhaps, two or three 
other different seasons of the year. 

The next great solemnity, in the order of time, 
was Lugk-nas, or La Lugh-nasa, which, as occur- 
ring about the beginning of August, has given 
its name, in Irish, to this month, and also to 
that season of the yean Of this word the true 
derivation seems to be luan, "moon," and nas, 
" anniversary ;" that is, the anniversary festival of 
the moon. It is now impossible to ascertain the 
particular rites and ceremonies with which this 
festival was celebrated by the Druids. As on 
other religious occasions, there were, of course, 
feasts, and prayers, and sacrifices. To these, at 
Luain-nas, were added games, processions, eques- 
trian sports, and athletic exercises, which lasted 
for several successive days. Something corres- 
ponding with these took place, in reference to 
the same subject of the moon, among other 
Pagan nations, such as the Greeks, Romans, and 
Egyptians. The only vestiges of this solemnity 
now remaining in Ireland are the name Lugh- 
nas (Luain-nas) ,that is, "anniversary of the moon," 
which is given by it to the month of August, and 
a sort of indistinct popular conviction that some- 
thing important was connected with it in ancient 
times. It appears that though the religious fea- 
tures of the solemnity had been abolished by 
the introduction of Christianity, the games and 
athletic sports were, in some shape, continued 



104 



THE DRUIDS. 



to the seventh and eighth centuries, and that 
many visitors and competitors came every year, 
from even England and Scotland, to be present 
at them. 

Some antiquaries derive the word Lugh-nas 
from Lugk, " a man's name," and nasa, " fairs 
that is, fairs with games and sports, established by 
Lugh-lamh-fhadah) which means " Lugh of the 
long hand," monarch of Ireland. According to 
the computation of our Irish annals, this occurred 
nearly two thousand years before the Christian 
era. It was at Tailltean, in Meath, the fair is 
stated to have been established by him, and in 
remembrance or honour of his foster-mother, 
Taillte. It is, however, more likely that Lugh- 
nas is a slight variation of Luain-nas, a Druidical 
anniversary in honour of the moon, and that the 
observance of this festival was general through- 
out all the Celtic countries. Lugh-of-the-long- 
hand, who was probably a man fond of athletic 
exercises himself, might have given great en- 
couragement to the games and sports always 
united to the religious feasts of this period ; and 
his name might thus have become popularly asso- 
ciated with them. The English word, Lamrnas, 
is manifestly a form or corruption of this Luain- 
nas, " anniversary of the moon ;" for the language 
of the ancient Britons was the Celtic, and they, 
too, rendered the accustomed honours to the 
moon, as well as to the mistletoe and the sun, in 
the days of their Druids. 



THE DRUIDS. 



105 



It is stated by the eminent Irish scholar, the 
late Professor Eugene O'Curry, that the name of 
Crom-dnbh is still connected with the first Sun- 
day of August among the people of the provinces 
of Munster and Connaught. Crom was the great 
idol of the Druidical worship in Ireland. There 
were two Croms — Crotn-dubk, that is, the black 
Crom, which is supposed to be an image or idol 
of the moon, and Crom-cruach y the bloody or 
red Crom, which, as we shall see hereafter, is be- 
lieved to be their image or idol of the sun. 

But why was the moon of August selected for 
these extraordinary honours ? Possibly the cause 
cannot now be ascertained. There are, however, 
certain features connected with that moon which 
are not observable in any other moon of the year. 
Owing to its relative position to the sun, the full 
moon of this season rises more immediately 
opposite to the sun-set than the full moon of any 
other season of the year. Thus, as the sun dis- 
appears in the north-west this full moon rises in 
the opposite direction, in the south-east, spreading 
her illumining rays over that portion of the earth 
which the great luminary has just abandoned, 
This singular coincidence, which the science of 
astronomy explains on purely natural principles, 
might have presented something mysterious and 
supernatural to the mind of the Druid. In the. 
popular language of Ireland, there is still a certain 
virtue ascribed to Re-an-fhoghmhair, that is, to 

F 2L 



io6 



THE DRUIDS. 



the moon of the harvest, or the harvest moon. 
Some think that this arises from the light which it 
affords for continuing the harvest-work after sun- 
set. It is, however, more likely that it has derived 
its distinctive name and its reputed virtue from 
the Druidical worship which made it a special ob- 
ject of observance and veneration at that season 
of the year. It appears that this was counted 
the 'first of their moons by the Druids ; and 
Strabo says that it was their custom to dance 
before the full moon from evening till morning. 

We now come to Samhain, which may be 
called the last and the first, the first and the 
last, of the great Druidical festivals. Samhain 
is a compound word, formed of sam/i, "the 
sun," and ain, " a circle," that is, the circle or 
anniversary of the sun. This was, by excellence, 
the great festival of the Druidical Celts, who, 
believing that they were descended from the 
mighty luminary, always professed themselves 
its devoted worshippers. It was on this account 
they called themselves Celts, that is, Celestials, 
and probably, also, that the Sunburst became 
the national escutcheon of Ireland. We cannot 
now discover the various ceremonies with which 
they celebrated this anniversary of the sun, which 
took place in the beginning of November, and to 
this day gives its name in Irish to that season of 
the year. There were, of course, sacrifices and 
feasts, and, as it is thought, also, an unusual dis- 



THE DRUIDS. 



107 



play of fires. The horse was offered as a victim 
to the sun, and, perhaps, the human being, too, 
in Ireland, as it certainly was in other countries. 
Upon this occasion was exhibited, for special 
veneration, the great idol, Crom-cruach y that is, 
the red or bloody Crom, which was a huge image 
or emblem of the sun. Crom is familiar to the 
language of the Irish, and many a place in Ire- 
land still bears its name ; yet, it is from the 
" Tripartite Life of Saint Patrick" only, we derive 
a description, imperfect however, of this famous 
and dreaded idol. The ancient biographer de- 
scribes the miraculous destruction of the idol, 
or the god, by Saint Patrick, in the following 
quaint language, which is a literal translation 
of the original Irish : — 

" Patrick, after that, went over the water to 
Magh-Slecht, where stood the chief idol of Erin, 
i.e., Cenn Cruaich, ornamented with gold and 
silver, and twelve other idols ornamented with 
brass around him. When Patrick saw the idol 
from the water which is called Guthard (loud 
voice, i.e. y he elevated his voice), and when he 
approached near the idol, he raised his arm to 
lay the staff of Jesus on him, and it did not 
reach him ; he bent back from the attempt 
upon his right side, for it was to the south his 
face was, and the mark of the staff lives in his 
left side still, although the staff did not leave 
Patrick's hand, and the earth swallowed the 



io8 



THE DRUIDS, 



other twelve idols to their heads, and they are 
in that condition in commemoration of the 
miracle." 

This " staff of Jesus," or Bachall Josa, as it is 
called in Irish, with which Saint Patrick assailed 
the idol, was his w r onder-working crozier, which 
was afterwards preserved for many centuries in 
Ireland. From this narrative it appears that the 
wreck of the idol and of its twelve satellites, or 
attendants, was still to be seen in the time of the 
saint's biographer. Here is the only description 
of the image which has come down to us ; and 
from it we infer that this idol of the Celts was 
very gorgeous, massive, and costly. From the 
presence of the twelve attendants surrounding it, 
the inference is, that it represented the sun and 
the twelve signs of the zodiac, which was a 
favourite idea of the Druids. 

The name Crom, or Crom-cruach, at this dis- 
tance of time, fails to supply any clue to the 
object or character of the idol. Crom, indeed, 
means "a maggot," and cruach, "red or bloody." 
If the literal meaning of these Celtic words were 
a guide in the matter, it would signify " the red 
or bloody maggot." Yet, perhaps, there is some- 
thing in them. Beel-zebub is, in Scripture, called 
" the god of Accaron," and the meaning of Beel- 
zebub is "the god of flies," or, perhaps, more 
properly, and originally, " the flies of Beal." The 
maggot, being an incipient or embryo fly, perhaps, 



THE DRUIDS. 



was intended, too, to convey the idea of an em- 
blem of life and of the sun, and so far of their 
deity. We are told that in ancient Egypt a 
blue-bottle fly received divine honours. Probably 
the delusion and the practice were based on the 
same curious idea. 

There are no means of ascertaining, with ac- 
curacy, what peculiar forms Crom and his attend- 
ants assumed, whether of men, of other animals, 
or of inanimate beings. The designation of Cenn- 
Cruaich, bestowed on it in the Tripartite Life of 
the Saint, means " the red or bloody heads.'' The 
name of Magh-Slecht given to this place where 
the idol stood, was not inappropriate. It means 
the " plain of adoration," from magh y "a plain," 
and sleachd y " adoration ;" and it is supposed to 
have been situated in the present county of 
Cavan. 

This festival of the sun was chiefly intended as 
a thanksgiving to the great luminary for the fruits 
and products of the season, which were generally 
saved and collected into the granaries at that 
season of the year. The produce of the field, of 
the vineyard, and of the garden, was represented 
in the loaves and fruits with which the religious 
feast was supplied. It was a solemn season of 
merriment, of joy, and of religious thanksgivings, 
according to the ideas that prevailed among that 
people. 

There are still to be found in Ireland some 



no 



THE DRUIDS. 



vestiges of these proceedings. Our All-hallow 
Eve was the Samhain of the Druids. It was, 
probably, dedicated to All Saints, to withdraw the 
minds of the people from the Pagan observances. 
But, in despite of time and alteration, the bread 
and the fruits are introduced into the Christian 
commemoration ; and there are some who pre- 
tend to think, in their silliness or levity, that a 
knowledge of futurity may be obtained by the 
performance of certain mystic signs, and that the 
heavenly bodies exercise, at that season, a pecu- 
liar influence over the destinies of men. It 
appears, however, that the few who now indulge 
in these things, seek for amusement more than 
anything else in these endeavours to discover the 
events of the dark and invisible future. These 
four great periodical religious festivals brought 
round in its entirety the bliadhain, or " year" of 
the Druids. It would appear, too, that their year 
was called bliadhain, from this very circumstance, 
for bliadhain is a compound word, formed from 
beil, " of god," and am, " circle," that is, " the 
circle of Beal," or " the circle of the worship of 
Beal." Even the Celtic word ratha, which means 
" a quarter," or fourth part of the year, would 
seem to be derived from these four religious 
celebrations. Ratha appears to be an abbreviated 
compound word formed from re, " time," and 
adhradh (pronounced ard) " adoration," or 
"worship." The name of spring in Irish is 



THE DRUIDS. 



Ill 



rat/ia-an-araig,that is, "the quarter (or adoration 
time) of the plough." The name of summer is 
samhrciy that is, " the sun quarter," from samk, 
"the sun," and ratha y "quarter," or adoration 
time. It was originally, perhaps, simmer, and 
borrowed from the Celtic. The name of autumn, 
or harvest, is foghmhar, from fogk, " fulness," or 
" abundance," and ratha, " quarter," that is, the 
time of the new fruits, and of abundance. The 
name of winter is geimhre y that is, " the quarter 
of the winds or storms," from gaoth, " wind," and 
ratka, "quarter," or time of adoration. Was winter 
originally windter, and derived from the Celtic ? 

The Irish commonly count the months by 
saying, the first month of winter, the second 
month of winter, the third month of winter, and 
so on. Their language, however, supplies even 
a variety of names for every month in the year, 
and some of these names are very expressive. 
For instance, the name of April is A bran (pro- 
nounced abbrawn) y a word formed from abaidh f 
" budding," re, " time," and an } " year ;" the bud- 
ding season of the year. 

In addition to the four great festivals there are 
in the popular language of the country the vestiges 
of another religious feast of, perhaps, secondary 
importance. The period of the year commonly 
called Shrovetide is, in Irish, named Innid. What 
is Innid? It is, at all events, a complete puzzle 
to antiquaries. Innid is certainly a corruption, 



112 



THE DRUIDS. 



or variation, of Beineid, the Celtic name of 
Minerva, the goddess of war, wisdom, and the 
liberal arts, Beineid is a compound word formed 
from bean, a " woman", and eide, " armour ;" 
the armour-bearing woman. The Latin name, 
Minerva, seems to be formed from the Celtic 
w r ords, bean, " woman/' and arma, of " arms." 
This is more natural than Cicero's derivation 
from " minitando," threatening, or " minando," 
warning. Beineid, or Minerva, was a favourite 
divinity of the Celts ; and the Irish name Innid, 
as applied to Shrovetide, would indicate that her 
festival was celebrated about that season of the 
year. From Roman mythology we learn that 
her festival took place about the middle of March 
among the Latins, and that it was celebrated 
with great pomp and magnificence for several 
days. It was a festive season of public proces- 
sions, of marriages, and of every kind of amuse- 
ment and enjoyment. In Ireland the idea 
of feasting and enjoyment is still attached 
to Innid. The Thursday next before Lent 
is, in the popular language, called Diardion 
meith 11a Innide, that is, "the fat Thursday 
of Innid," or of Minerva. It is also remark- 
able that in the Irish-speaking districts more 
marriages take place at this season than at any 
other period of the year. The feasts and the 
marriages are at present ascribed to the near 
approach of the season of Lent ; but, perhaps, 



THE DRUIDS. 



113 



like the other popular festivities of the year, 
they had their origin in something more remote, 
though now forgotten. 

Mars, the god of war, must have been also 
specially honoured by the Druids at this season 
of the year, which, in the common language, bears 
his name, Marta. From him is also derived the 
English word March. It would appear that at 
this season were brought home in public proces- 
sion the spoils taken in war, and which, up to 
that time, had been allowed to remain on the 
open ground in a heap, or carnan, sacred to the 
god of battles. Philologists are unable to give 
us the certain derivation of the word carnival, 
which is a popular festival of great merriment in 
some Celtic countries, and takes place in Shrove- 
tide, or Innid. Some say it is formed from the 
Latin words, caro vale, "farewell meat." It is 
more likely that it had its origin in the festival of 
Mars. The French name camaval, and the 
Italian carnavale, resemble much the Celtic words 
carna-a-vbaille, which mean, " the booty to home," 
or the hauling home of the spoils, " In corrupt 
Latin," says Du-Cange, " it was called came- 
levamen, and in Spanish cames tollendas" These 
names imply the removal, or the taking away, 
of the cama, carne^ and cames, whatever 
was originally meant by them, I believe 
they were the Celtic carna, or spoils of war, 
which had been, according to Druidical rule, 



114 THE DRUIDS. 

allowed to remain afterf the battle in the 
carnan, or sacred heap, and which now, at this 
season dedicated to Mars, and Minerva, were 
brought home with rejoicing, in public procession. 

From the monuments, sacrifices, and religious 
anniversaries of the Druids we now pass to the 
character and qualifications of the Druids them- 
selves. These men are universally reputed to 
have been very learned, and to have possessed 
great influence among their people. By the 
ancient writers they are divided into several 
classes, such as the Vacerri, the Eubages, the 
Saronidae, and the Bardi. These curious names 
were evidently manufactured by foreigners from 
the Celtic language itself. The Vacerri were the 
Saggairt, that is, the priests ; the Eubages were 
the Oubihe or Ubhehe, that is, the " wise men of 
the serpent," or serpent's egg, by which were 
meant the astrologers, diviners, and soothsayers; 
the Saronidse were the Aram, that is, the judges; 
and the Bardi were the Baird, that is, the poets 
and chroniclers. Their offices were various. 
As we have already seen, the root of the word 
sacairt, or saggart, is sadh, to " cut," and cri" the 
heart ;" from the office which required of them 
to pierce the heart of the victim. The root of 
ubhehe is ubh, or oub, the serpent's egg, or the 
coiled serpent, which they wore on the breast. 
"The root of Arn> a judge, seems to be adhradh, 
a prayer or adoration," and an, " a man," that is, 



THE DRUIDS. 



115 



a man of prayer, or, in other words, a Druidical 
priest. And of Bard, the root seems to be, bagh> 
" a word," and ard y " noble," or high ; for he used 
noble or fine language. Some derive it from the 
Hebrew word, bardam, " to modulate;" but, per- 
haps, bardam itself comes from the Celtic root, 
bagh-ard. 

Each class had its special department and pecu- 
liar field of labours. But it appears that, in addi- 
tion to the usual functions of the sacerdotal office, 
the members of the priesthood were charged with 
the education of the youth of the nobility, and the 
higher classes. " They teach," says Caesar, " their 
pupils many things concerning the stars, and 
their motions ; concerning the size of the world, 
and its different parts." Their schools were much 
frequented here by native and foreign pupils, to 
whom they imparted their own knowledge of 
the arts and sciences. Their knowledge of 
astronomy, mechanics, and medicine was very 
considerable. In the other departments the 
members were equally clever. The judge should 
know the law, which was never consigned to 
writing. It was probably the basis of the com- 
mon law of modern times. The astrologer should 
know all the mystic means by which the will of 
the gods could be ascertained ; and the bard 
should have his piece of verse or prose ready 
for every important object, and every stirring 
occasion. Upon, almost, all subjects the know- 



Il6 THE DRUIDS. 



ledge and instruction of the Druids were con- 
veyed to their pupils in rhyme. The number of 
verses with which the memory was, in this way, 
burthened, is stated to have been prodigious. 
But the training and education of the Druid him- 
self, and of the young aspirants to his office, far 
surpassed in severity anything to which ordinary 
pupils were subjected. His educational course 
occupied twenty years of the most intense intel- 
lectual application. The discipline of both body 
and mind were equally severe. Twenty years of 
retirement and study with their masters, in caves 
and in the recesses of the forest, were well cal- 
culated to try the endurance of both mind and 
muscle, and, also, the sincerity of the dispositions 
with which they aspired to the high office. Even 
still in Ireland there lingers the conviction that 
the educational training of the old Druid was 
no trifle, as appears by the following popular 
lines : — 

Seacht mblian do ceart fe leac a dting feihey — 
Gan bheaha gean bhlas, act an tart ad shior ceasa. 
Dlighe arain do ceact, is an araidh do vbearla, 
Is ma vmarrir le teact, 
Beir seal ad Dhroi, beidir. 

The following is the verbal and literal trans- 
lation : — 

4< Seven years your right, under a flag-stone in a quagmire, 
Without food, without taste, but the thirst you ever torturing. 



THE DRUIDS. 



117 



The law of the judge your lesson, and prayer your language ; 
And if you live to return, 
You will be, for a time, a Druid, perhaps." 

That was surely a severe code which pre- 
scribed a seven ^ years' fast, prayer, and 
study, in such circumstances, and still ensured 
to the recipient of all this discipline only the 
consolation that he may possibly be, for 
a time, a wise man of the oak. But, likely, the 
ardent Celtic popular imagination has added 
a little from itself to the reality of the process, 
especially, as the words would seem to refer to 
some ambitious aspirant, not highly distin- 
guished for the possession of any great natural 
abilities. 

The order of astrologers was held in very high 
repute among the Druidical nations. These men 
drew their knowledge of futurity from the 
changing aspect of the heavenly bodies, from 
the flights of birds, from the appearance of the 
sacrificed victims, and from innumerable other 
circumstances. It was under their guidance and 
encouragement the first Scythian colonies quitted 
the barren regions of the north, and pushed their 
way, through almost insurmountable difficulties, 
to the genial latitudes and smiling valleys of the 
south. Indeed, among all Pagan nations, whether 
young or old, the diviner was considered an im- 
portant and almost indispensable personage. 
But, perhaps, Druidism was the very parent of 



THE DRUIDS. 



astrology and divination. The ancient Greeks 
and Romans had their oracles and sibyls. These 
two words are quite familiar to the readers of the 
old classics ; and yet, even the learned are unable 
to give of them a satisfactory derivation. The 
language of the Druids seems to supply the defi- 
ciency. Sibyl, in Latin, sibylla, is formed from 
suil-bheily which means "the eye of the mouth;" or 
"the eye-mouth/' that is, "the eye that sees, and 
the mouth that announces future events." Even 
in Scripture, those who foretold future events 
were called seers. The Latin word, oraculum, 
" oracle," appears to be the literal representative, 
in that language, of the Celtic words snil-bheil y 
that is, oris-oculus f " the eye of the mouth." 
Sibyl and oracle thus appear to be the same, 
both in the words and in the meaning, and, also, 
to be derived from a Druidical source. It appears 
that females were, at one time, admitted to the 
order or fraternity of the Druids, and that they 
were appointed to fill certain offices in connexion 
with the oracles or suil-bheil. Hence, the name 
of sibyl or sibylla, of the Latins. A female of 
this class was called a bean-draoi, that is, "a 
woman Druid ;" and by the name was meant a 
priestess, prophetess, or enchantress. 

Some vestiges of the ancient divination and 
wonder-working can still be traced in the 
customs and language of the people of this 
country. Fortune-telling still lives, though con- 



THE DRUIDS. 



fined to the few knaves who practise it, and the 
silly dupes by whom it is accepted. The fairy 
of the inexhaustible purse of gold is known to 
be walking abroad; but no one can capture him. 
The Banshee, or supernatural wailer, is reported 
as having been often seen in her white robes, by 
lonely stream and in deep valley, announcing in 
the mournful tones of the native caoine, or funeral 
wail, the approaching death of some worthy 
member, young or old, of the ancient respectable 
families. The word fairy is formed from the 
Celtic fear-si, which means " a man of the super- 
natural world," from fear, "a man" and si, (pro- 
nounced skee) y " the mysterious world." Ban- 
shee means " a woman of the supernatural life," 
from bean, " a woman," and si, " the supernatural 
existence." In the Irish language, a male fortune- 
teller is called fear-feasa, "a man of knowledge," 
and a female of the craft, bean-feasa, " a woman 
of knowledge." This knowledge is understood to 
be derived from some supernatural or mysterious 
source. Even some of the old Druidical cabalistic 
expressions used in evoking, or calling up, the 
spirit of divination, still exist ; such, for instance, 
as cirith-an-puca, that is, "the spright, or the 
hobgoblin, to you !" This expression is pre- 
served in England among the divining craft, as 
" hobble in, goblin !" and " hocus pocus !" These 
latter words seem to be a sort of barbarous 
Latin form of the Celtic expression, and are 



120 



THE DRUIDS. 



easily resolved into hue est pocus, that is, " here is 
the pooka, or the hobgoblin," the old enchanters 
wonder-working spirit. Perhaps it is he that is 
turning and rapping the tables for some believers 
at present. 

With the Druids medicine was an important 
branch of study. The names of the different 
plants and herbs in Irish are derived from the 
Druids ; and these names indicate the healing, or 
medicinal, qualities for which they were distin- 
guished. Thus, plantain is, in Irish, called slan- 
lus, from slan, "healthy," and lus, "an herb," 
that is, the healing herb. To herbal medicine 
was chiefly confined all the curing code of the 
Druids. When this failed, they had recourse to 
charms and spells. For an extreme emergency 
of this kind they had their si-adhradh-na-fuilla y 
that is, the prayer or adoration (charm) of the 
blood ; their si-adhradh-na-peiste, that is, the 
prayer, or adoration, (charm) of the worm ; and 
in the same way, a si-adhradh } or " charm," for 
every evil, accident, or disease, to which man or 
beast was liable. By these means they pretended 
to be able to stop the blood, kill the worm, or 
produce any other desirable effect where natural 
remedies had failed. Si-adhradh (pronounced 
shee-arah), means, literally, " the fairy, or super- 
natural prayer." From si-adhradh are formed 
" char me" of the French, and " charm," of the 
English, and also Siren. 



THE DRUIDS. 



121 



It is a singular fact that some of these charms 
are still preserved, and,*" even, sometimes used 
in defiance of time, change, and advanced civil- 
ization. Even the traditional knowledge of the 
medicinal qualities of certain herbs still prevails 
among the people. This knowledge is some- 
times reduced to practice by certain experienced 
persons ; but the want of proper discrimination 
makes it, often, more detrimental than useful 
to the health. It is, however, to be expected 
that the results were far different in the profes- 
sional hands of the Druid. 

The mechanical skill of the Druids, as dis- 
played in the number and magnitude of their 
monumental remains, has excited the wonder 
and astonishment of ages. I was present at the 
erection of the Luxhur Obelisk in Paris, and 
yet, I think that I would have felt greater 
emotion and surprise if I had witnessed the 
successful performance of the old Celtic engineer 
who placed on its three pedestals of stone the 
enormous rock which constitutes the Druidical 
altar here at Castle-Mary, near Cloyne. The 
most stupendous remains of this order in the 
western countries of the ancient Celts are, per- 
haps, Carnach, in France, and Stonehenge, in 
England. The former consists of four hundred 
stones, varying from five to twenty-seven feet 
in height, and ranged in eleven concentric lines. 
The latter contains one hundred and thirty-nine 

G 



122 



THE DRUIDS. 



stones, of an enormous size, forming a circle. 
Carnach is a compound word formed from cairn, 
" Druidical altars," and achadh, " a, field/' that 
is, "the field or plain of the Druidical altars." 
It is to be regretted that the original Celtic 
name of Stonehenge has not been preserved. By 
the common people of this country, our enor- 
mous Druidical remains are ascribed to some 
imaginary beings, whom they designate by the 
name of "the giants of old." And, certainly, 
they were giants in the mechanical art. 

The bards exercised great influence, and en- 
joyed high privileges, among their countrymen. 
They were divided into several classes, of which 
the principal were the poets, the historians, the 
antiquaries, the genealogists, and minstrels. The 
favourite instrument of the Celtic minstrels was 
the harp, which was supposed to have been the 
invention of their chief god, Mercury, and which, 
perhaps, from this circumstance, became, at an 
early period, one of the national emblems of 
Erin. It was played on by almost every man 
and woman having any pretensions to polite 
education among the Celts. Music was believed 
to be of divine origin. One of its names in the 
Celtic is oirfeadacht, from oir, " beautiful," and 
fead y " a whistle." The harmonized or modulated 
whistle was, certainly, the first species of music, 
as it is, even now, and ever will be, the most 
general in grove, field, and hamlet. From this 



THE DRUIDS. 



123 



Celtic word, oirfeadacht, " music," was, probably, 
formed the name of the famous Orpheus of the 
ancient poets, whose lute or lyre charmed savage 
beasts, and even the gruff sentinels of the in- 
fernal regions. The duties of the bard were 
almost as various as the scenes of human exist- 
ence. He presided at the festive board, to 
contribute to the general hilarity by his vocal 
or instrumental talent ; and he was present on 
the field of battle, to cheer and encourage the 
warriors, to sketch the bloody fray in words of 
fire, and prepare an enduring record of all the 
heroic actions. Tacitus states that from the 
bard's words and gestures on these occasions 
were drawn omens, and signs, which exercised a 
powerful influence on the minds of the men, 
and thus, often, decided the fate of the coming 
battle. Lucan, another ancient writer, alludes 
to this portion of the duties of the bards in the 
following terms, which are a translation of the 
original Latin : — 

You, too, ye bards ! whom Sacred raptures fire, 
To chant your heroes to your country's lyre ; 
Who consecrate in your immortal strain, 
Brave patriot souls in freedom's battle slain. 

The bards survived the fall of the Druidism 
of which they formed an important order. 
Poetry, history, and music were, if possible, cul- 
tivated with, even, greater ardour under the 



124 



THE DRUIDS. 



influence of Christianity ; and for centuries, their 
ancient honours and privileges were enjoyed 
in their plenitude by the successors and repre- 
sentatives of the old Druidical bards. They 
even survived the reign of Elizabeth, when severe 
edicts were hurled againt them for endeavouring, 
by music and song, to keep alive the sentiments 
of national independence. Till 1746 the "bards 
of Munster continued to hold their half-yearly 
sessions at Bruree of the Kings, in the county 
of Limerick, since which period, bard after bard 
has disappeared, leaving scarcely the shadow of 
a successor to represent him. 

The Druids enjoyed great immunities and 
privileges among their people. " They are," 
says Csesar, " wont to be absent from war, and 
pay no tributes like the rest ; the law exempt- 
ing them from military service, and granting 
them immunity in all things." Among the 
Celtic nations the person of the Druid was 
always sacred and inviolable. This was even 
the case with respect to the Bard who was cap- 
tured while encouraging his warriors in the 
midst of the conflict. The Romans, however, 
did not recognise the rule ; for when they found 
him in the ranks of the enemy, they often con- 
signed him to, even, a worse fate than that of 
the rest of the captives. 

Like the Bards, the Arain, or Judges, also 
survived the fall of the Druidical system. They 



THE DRUIDS. 



had for successors and representatives those 
who, in English, are called Brehons, from the 
Celtic word, breathamh, (pronounced breakuv), 
which means "a judge." Through many vicis- 
situdes, and for many ages, these continued to 
dispense justice, and enforce the old laws of the 
country, till the national customs and inscitu- 
tions at length fell prostrate under the power of 
England. 

As we have already seen, the name Aran, is 
formed from adhradk, " adoration or prayer," and 
an> "man." Could the name of Aaron in Scripture 
be derived from the same root ? And their 
decisions were received with great respect by 
the people. Even Chief Baron Finglas, who 
wrote in the interest of England in the reign 
of Henry VIII., bears testimony to this fact, 
in such a way, as to contrast it with the want of 
respect for English law within the Pale. " It is 
a great abuse and reproach," he says, "that 
the laws and statutes made in this land are not 
observed, nor kept after the making of them 
eight days, while divers Irishmen doth observe 
and keep such laws and statutes, which they 
make upon hills in their country, firm and 
stable, without breaking them for any favour 
or reward." By a statute of a Parliament held 
at Kilkenny, it was made high treason to ad- 
minister or observe these old Brehon laws. 
Gabhail-rcinne and Eiric were specially obnoxious. 



126 



THE DRUIDS. 



Gabhail-cinne (anglicized Gavelkind), was the 
law by which the land of a family belonged to 
all the members of the family, and descended 
from the father in equal proportions, to all his 
sons, and to his daughters, in the same way, 
when there were no sons, The word is formed 
from gab hail y " prize, or booty," and cinne, 
" tribe, or family." Tanistry was the law or 
custom by which a chief or prince was elected 
by the tribe to succeed the ruling prince when 
death should deprive them of his counsel and 
presence. The chief should belong to the royal 
family. He was not, however, to succeed by 
age, or primogeniture, but was elected by general 
suffrage. A remote member of the chiefs 
family was, often, the object of the people's 
favour and selection. He was then styled 
Tanaiste, that is, the thane, or chief, of death, 
from tann, " a chief," and ais, " death," as he was 
to succeed at the death of the actual ruler. 

Eiric was the law by which a certain fine, 
large and heavy in proportion to the rank of the 
slain, was to be paid for murder, or manslaughter. 
Eiric seems to be formed from eire, " burthen," 
and ic y " death." 

The Druid was, in all the relations of life, a 
most important personage among his people. 
He was their priest, their prophet, their judge, 
their bard, and physician. By his profession he 
was exempted from taxes and the obligation of 



THE DRUIDS. 



127 



arms. But when an enemy invaded his country, 
as in the case of the Romans against Gaul and 
Britain, he hesitated not to fling himself into 
the ranks of the combatants, or, even, to take the 
command, where another worthy leader was 
wanting, or slain. 

In each Celtic country there was an Ard-draoi, 
that is, " an Arch, or High-Druid," who exercised 
a supreme authority over the whole order, as 
well as over their professional and religious 
functions. On the occasion of his death, if 
there happened to be another Druid among them, 
of great ability and transcendent merits, he was 
at once elected, by the common consent of the 
brethren, to fill the vacant office. But when there 
were many of equal merits and attainments, the 
choice was not so easy ; and, sometimes, the 
selection was not made without tumult, violence, 
and even bloodshed. It was this Arch-Druid 
who presided at the great annual council which 
was held for the regulation of the affairs of their 
order, and the final settlement of cases of dispute 
or disagreement, among their people. It is be- 
lieved that at Uisneach, in Meath, this council 
was held every year, at first, and that it sub- 
sequently led to the great meeting of priests, 
nobles, bards, and warriors, at the famous 
periodical convocation of the nation, " at Tara 
of the Kings." 

A natural curiosity is felt here to know 



128 



THE DRUIDS. 



something about the personal appearance and 
ordinary dress of the Druid. If he appeared 
like the rest of his countrymen, the Celts, he 
wore the long-flowing hair, called the glib, which 
hung loosely on the shoulders or on the breast, 
or the same hair twisted on the poll into an 
ornamental knot, called the culin (pronounced 
cooleen), and the tuft of beard called the crom- 
b/ieal,which adorned the upper lip under the nose. 
The lower chin was shaved, but, perhaps, not the 
side-face. At least, it is so on heads introduced 
into a rich cornice on the Round Tower of D evenish. 
Glib seems to be a primitive word signifying a 
lock or coil of hair. Ciilin means the diminished, 
or tied up, poll ; from cut, "the poll/' and in, oreen, 
"small." Or, perhaps, it is formed from cul y 
" the poll," and lin, " threads, or ringlets." 
crombheal (pronounced cromveeal), appears to 
be an expressive compound word formed from 
crom, "bent, or arched," and beal, " mouth," that 
is, " the arched mouth," and by it was meant 
the hair-adorned- upper lip, which was the mous- 
tache of modern times. Among the Celts the 
long-flowing locks were highly prized ; and, often 
even, did the possession of them by a candidate 
influence the choice of the people when they 
were electing their military chief, or their mon- 
arch. These two words, glib and culin ("culeen") 
still live among us in song, and story ; for it 
required many a severe edict and many an age 



THE DRUIDS. 



129 



of repression to compel the Irish Celt to aban- 
don these national appendages of his person for 
what was called in the language of the statute, 
"the English dress and fashion." It appears, 
however, that the Druids, like the Jewish priests, 
wore the full beard, and that their dress, too, 
differed, in some particulars, from that of the 
other two classes of the state, namely, the 
nobles and the common people. At least, when 
officiating at sacrifice, they wore a white tunic, 
probably of linen ; while a many-coloured, or 
variegated tunic, formed the ordinary dress of 
their countrymen. The favourite colours for the 
Celtic dress, were the yellow, the red, and the 
blue. As the Celts were close observers and de- 
voted worshippers of the heavenly bodies, and 
as they, even, claimed for themselves a celestial 
origin, it is thought that their predilection for 
these colours was derived from what we term 
the golden morning, the purple evening, and the 
deep blue sky. The tunic was a large and long 
outer body-dress, which was bound round the 
waist with a girdle, or cincture, called a crios. 
These girdles, being sometimes embroidered, and 
sometimes fringed with gold, and going round 
the body and the breast two or three times, 
formed a most ornamental part of the Celtic dress. 
From the Celtic word, crois-aill " the noble or 
beautiful cincture," have been formed cyrtel of 
the Saxons, and girdle of the English. The 

G 2 



130 THE DRUIDS. 

females wore girdles, too, round their peculiar 
tunics. It appears that the priests were clad in 
the usual close-fitting under-dress, or breeches, 
reaching in one piece from the waist to the soles 
of the feet. To all these the nobles and wealthy 
classes added ornaments of massive gold for the 
neck and shoulders, and bracelets of the same 
material for the arms and wrists. From this, 
even imperfect description, one can easily infer 
that the full dress of the Celt and of the Druid 
was both graceful and picturesque. 

The large and loose tunic of the Celts, was 
the garment called by the name of shirt in 
the English statutes, and against which these 
statutes contained several curious penal enact- 
ments. Of course, it was only with certain 
peculiarities, such as size, colour, and cost, they 
pretended to find fault ; but the real object 
was to abolish the distinctive national dress, and 
through it, the national character. Colour was 
an important feature of the ancient Celtic cos- 
tume. By it and its various shades, caste, class, 
condition, and profession, were marked and in- 
dicated among the people. Blue was the usual 
colour of the serfs and tillers of the soil, yellow 
of the aristocracy, and red of the kings and 
princes. Those who belonged to the order of 
the Druids, whether priests, judges, or bards, 
were privileged to wear the most honourable 
colour in all its variety of shade and ornament. 



THE DRUIDS. 



131 



The scarlet was also the badge of the ladies. 
And to that colour the fair sex in Ireland clung 
with inflexible tenacity for centuries after the 
English invasion. Nothing could induce them 
to exchange the graceful red cloak and simple 
head dress of their country, for the foreign garb, 
of which the capacious old bonnet constituted a 
prominent feature. Even at this day a fair face 
and bright eye are often seen under the scarlet 
hood, in remote parts of Ireland, which the stern 
barrier of moor and mountain had long protected 
against the influence of foreign ideas. 

About six hundred years before the birth of 
Christ, a Druid from one of these western islands 
visited Greece, and the description given of his 
person and dress by some of the Greek writers 
is very interesting. The name of this Druid- 
traveller was Abaris, a word which signifies the 
father, or master, of knowledge ; from ab, 
" father," and airis, " knowledge." This title was 
something like that of Rabbi among the Jews ; 
and, even in sound, it resembles it somewhat. 
This priest of the sun, as he is called, went to 
Greece for the purposes of study and observation ; 
and also to renew, by his personal presence and 
his gifts, the old friendship which, it appears, had 
existed for ages, between the Greeks and the 
Celts. By the Greeks he was called a Hyper- 
borean, that is, a northern, a term which they 
applied to the Celtic nations bordering on the 



132 



THE DRUIDS. 



Euxine, and also to the colonies or peoples sprung 
from them and inhabiting northern latitudes. 
The Greek writer, Strabo, says that Abaris was 
much admired by even the learned men of Greece, 
for his politeness, justice, and integrity. "He 
came to Athens," says Himerius, another Greek 
writer, " not clad in skins, like a Scythian, but 
with a bow in his hand, and a quiver hanging on 
his shoulders, and a plaid wrapped about his body, 
a gilded belt encircling his loins, and trousers 
reaching from the waist down to the soles of his 
feet. He was easy in his address, agreeable in 
his conversation, active in the despatch, and 
secret in the management of great affairs ; quick 
in judging of present occurrences, and ready to 
take his party in any sudden emergency ; pro- 
vident, withal, in guarding against futurity : 
diligent in quest of wisdom ; fond of friendship ; 
trusting very little to fortune ; yet having the 
entire confidence of others, and trusted with 
everything for his prudence. He spoke Greek 
with so much fluency that you would have 
thought that he had been bred, or brought up, 
in the Lyceum, and had conversed all his life 
with the academy of Athens." 

Such is the singularly flattering character 
which the Greek writers give of this Druid-tra- 
veller, from the Hyperborean island. They, also, 
state that he had frequent interviews with Pytha- 
goras, whom he astonished by the variety and 



THE DRUIDS. 



133 



extent of his knowledge. Now, to which of 
these northern Celtic, or Hyperborean, islands 
did Abaris belong ? The place of his abode is 
thus described by Greek writers, whose imperfect 
knowledge of geography, however, rendered it 
impossible for them to be very accurate in all 
particulars : — " It is the place where Latona 
was born, lying far north of Celtica and as big as 
Sicily, the inhabitants of which enjoy a temperate 
air and a very fruitful soil. They adore Apollo 
and the Sun, preferably to all other deities, paying 
him the highest honours, and singing his praises 
so continually, that they all seemed to be priests 
appropriated to his service, and their town itself 
dedicated to his worship. There was a fine grove 
and circular temple, consecrated to him, in which 
choirs of his votaries say hymns, celebrating his 
actions, and set to music ; whilst others, playing 
on the harp, which most of the inhabitants under- 
stood, answered to their voices, and formed a 
delightful symphony. They had a pecidiar dialect 
of their own, and a singular regard for the Greeks, 
particularly the Athenians and Delleans, with 
whom they had, from ancient times, cultivated a 
friendship, confirmed by mutual visits, which, 
however, as they had been intermitted for some 
time, Abaris was sent by the Hyperboreans to 
renew, and, in return, several of the Greeks, 
passing to their island, left there several sacred 
presents to their deities, with inscriptions in 
Greek characters/' 



134 



THE DRUIDS. 



Several features noticed in this description, 
such as the size and situation of the island, the 
worship of the sun, the use of the harp, its position 
beyond Celtic Gaul, and the peculiar language 
spoken by the people, evidently point to Erin, 
as the residence of this " father, or master, of 
knowledge" who had travelled into Greece. Still, 
English writers claim him for England, and 
perhaps the Scotch, too, for their own country. 
For want of knowledge of the Celtic tongue these 
writers have not been able to give the meaning 
of the name Abaris ; and I believe that they 
have equally failed in establishing their national 
claims to the distinguished Druid who bore it. 
In any case, the three countries, which all 
belonged to the great Celtic family, may well 
afford to share the honour between them. 
Tacitus states that the harbours and ports of 
Ireland were better known to foreigners than 
those of Britain ; a fact which may, perhaps, shed 
some light on this subject ; whilst, to any candid 
reader, it is manifest that the size of Sicily cor- 
responds better w r ith that of Ireland than with 
the far larger island comprising England, Scot- 
land, and Wales. The knowledge of the Greek 
language, which Abaris possessed in an eminent 
degree, throws no particular light on his nation- 
ality ; for it appears that the study of that tongue 
formed an important portion of the ordinary 
education of the Druids. It was the language 



THE DRUIDS. 



135 



of their correspondence and commerce with 
foreign nations. 

At what time the Druids first came to Ireland 
is not known. It is possible that some members 
of the order arrived there in the train of the most 
early colonies. From its connexion with Druid- 
ism, Ireland has derived its most ancient and 
enduring names. Eirinn, or Erinn, is a com- 
pound word, formed from i y (pronounced ee) 
"an island," and arain, "of the judges," that is, as 
the name Aran imports, the island of the men of 
prayer and adoration, or of the Druidical legis- 
lators. Ierne, or lame, another very ancient 
name of Ireland, from which is evidently formed 
Hibernia, with its many variations, is a compound 
of z, " an island," and eameadh? " propagation 
of knowledge ;" from the fact, perhaps, that to it 
resorted, for instruction, foreign students and 
scholars, in the Druidical times. Or, this name 
may have been formed from i, " an island," and 
skiar, " west," that is, the western island. It is 
more likely, however, that the name referred to 
it as a school of knowledge ; and that to it flocked 
the greater number of those, who, as Caesar says, 
went from Gaul and other countries to Britain 
to be educated by the Druids. The name of 
Inisfail, is also ascribed to the Druids, as being 
derived from the presence of the Liafail, or stone 
of the king, called the stone of destiny, which 
they had brought with them to Ireland. Inis- 



136 



THE DRUIDg. 



fail, however, means the island of the king, from 
inzs, "an island," and fal, " a king;" because from 
the earliest ages, Ireland was under one supreme 
monarch, who exercised authority over the pro- 
vincial kings and princes. Britain was differently- 
circumstanced in this respect, as having its 
several independent petty monarchs, or kings. 
It would appear that the name Britain is formed 
from Breith y " a compact, or confederacy," and 
tarty "land," that is, the land of confederacy, or 
the confederated states. Some derive it from 
Britanachy which means a painted or coloured 
man, from brit y " spotted," and an y " man." They 
painted their clothes and the naked parts of 
their bodies in various lively colours. Thus, 
they are said to have been the Picti, or Picts. 
The name Picts, was, however, more probably 
derived from fich y a " fee-farm," and thus meant 
the feudal men, or clansmen. The Celtic name 
of Alba was given to that part of Britain now 
called Scotland, from alb, " a height." It was an 
abbreviation of "Britane-alba,"that is, the heights, 
or high parts of the land of the confederated 
states, or of the painted or coloured people, just 
as Wales was called Britane-eisgy that is, the 
watery parts of the land of confederation. Cymry 
comes from comaray " deep valleys." Some de- 
rive it from Gomer, son of Japheth, son of Noe. 
The name of Albion is erroneously derived from 
the Latin, albus, " white," as referring to its white 



THE DRUIDS. 



137 



chalk cliffs. It, manifestly, comes from Alba, 
the Celtic name of the heights of Britain. Some, 
however, derive it. from ail, " stones," and ban, 
" white." 

In even Pagan times Ireland was called by 
foreigners, Insula Sacra, or the Sacred Isle ; a 
title which it clearly derived from its own Celtic 
names, Eirinn and I erne, which meant the island 
of the learned Druids, and of knowledge. 

Like the ancient sages and philosophers of 
other countries, the Druids were fond of travel. 
As others came to Ireland in search of know- 
ledge, many went from Ireland to foreign places 
for the same object. Between the Druids of 
Erin and those of Britain and Gaul, a constant 
communication was maintained. A few hours' 
sail brought the bark of the Gallic student 
to the shores of Britain, which, at the nearest 
points, only a little more than a dozen 
miles separated from the more western sacred 
Isle. In the Irish Sea, and close to that part of 
Britain now called Wales, stands the Isle of 
Anglesey, which formerly was called Mona or 
more properly, Mnineadh-i (pronounced moon- 
ah-ee) Here was a high training school, which 
was the great international seminary of the 
Druids of the west. From this circumstance 
the isle derived its name of Mnineadh-i, which 
means " the island of teaching," from muineadk, 
"teaching," and i, "an island," It was the last 



138 



THE DRUIDS. 



resting place of the Druids of Britain, when the 
Roman legions had driven them out of the main 
land for having encourged resistance to the 
foreign invasion ; and when the vengeance of the 
enemy again pursued them to that secluded 
retreat, those who were able to escape the sword 
were compelled to fly, in their boats, to the shores 
of Ireland. The Druids are gone, and the Roman 
legions have passed away. Still, in that island, 
there are yet remaining many striking memorials 
of its ancient character. It has the Druidical circle, 
the cairn, the cromleacht, and the dhallawn ; and 
it was not without a struggle it parted with its 
ancient name, which, how r ever, clings to the now 
famous strait which separates it from the main- 
land. 

From w T hence the Druids first came to Ireland 
we know not, though they can, themselves, be 
traced to the east as the place that gave their 
doctrines birth. It appears that ancient Chaldea 
was the cradle of Druidism. In language and 
customs, in rites and ceremonies, these priests of 
the Celts closely resembled the peculiar Pagan 
people of whom the ancient Scriptures frequently 
speak as existing in that country. In reference 
to them, Baal and his worship are often men- 
tioned as a great danger, and in terms of repro- 
bation. This Beal, as the Celtic word means, 
was the universal being, or god, of the Druids. 
There is also mention in Scripture of Moloch, 



THE DRUIDS. 



139 



which was an idol or god of the Phoenicians. 
Moloch seems to be a Celtic word formed from 
mo, great, or chief, and logh, god ; by which was, 
probably, meant Mercury, or the Sun. Eastern 
writers tell us that, to this divinity human 
victims were sacrificed by enclosing them in the 
hollow arms and legs of a huge image of brass 
or copper, which was then exposed to the severe 
action of fire. This was, manifestly, the 
prototype and model of the ozier images used 
for the same purpose by the Druids of Gaul. 
It would, even, appear that Druidism was the first 
great permanent error which broke off from the 
primitive divine revelation made to man. Its 
sacrifices w r ere an imitation, or perversion of 
the sacrifices, of the patriarchs, with the single 
exception of the human victim, which, probably, 
was suggested by some shadowy and false 
notions respecting the promised future atone- 
ment in behalf of a fallen race. Even the 
" stones of adoration " of the Druids and their 
" libation stones" would appear to be an imi- 
tation of the rude store-altars erected, for 
sacrifice, on hill and in valley, by the ancient 
patriarchs. Doubtless, it was from these pri- 
mitive traditions Druidism derived its belief 
in the existence of a Supreme Being, and in 
the immortality of the soul. We have already 
seen that the stiil-beal, that is, the sibyl, 
or oracle, was an institution of the Druids. 



THE DRUIDS. 



This, too, was an imitation, or perversion of 
what, among the Hebrews, or Jews, was un- 
derstood by the simple designation of con- 
sulting the Lord. It is stated that some of 
these oracles, or sibyls, uttered matters in con- 
nexion with the life of the future Redeemer, and 
with the day of judgment. By some these 
utterances are regarded as the pious frauds and 
fabrications of a subsequent age. It is, however, 
possible, that these fragments of an original 
revelation might have been preserved by tra- 
dition among the Druids, and that, for some 
special object, either to excite aw T e or create 
astonishment, they might have been made to 
pass through the channel of the suil-beal> or the 
sibyl's prophecy. " Balaam," that- is, the man 
of Baal, as the name imports, in all probability, 
belonged to this Pagan order, or profession ; 
and he uttered a singular prophesy in the same 
direction. The Witch of Endor, who is called 
the serpent, after the serpent-worship, was, 
likely, too, a member of the Druidical order, and 
a sort of priestess. Even there are those w r ho 
think that the wise men, who came to worship 
the infant Saviour, were Druids, or pontiff- 
princes of that order, in their own country. 
They are called in scripture Magi, a name, 
which, if traced to a Celtic root, would mean the 
wise men of the plain, from magh, "a plain," 
and i (pronounced ee) " wise or learned." They 



THE DRUIDS. 



141 



were close observers of the heavenly bodies, and 
made the laws of the universe, and of morals, a 
particular study. Perhaps the name was formed 
from maighne^ " great," and i " wise," the great 
wise man. From whatever cause it arose, the 
Druids were far from being the most obstinate 
of the Pagans in accepting the doctrines of 
Christianity. No doubt, their belief in the 
existence of a Supreme Being, and in the 
immortality of the human soul, together with 
any other fragments of the original revelation 
which might have been preserved amongst them, 
greatly facilitated their conversion. We collect 
from the ancient writings and the traditions of 
Ireland, that the Druids had absolutely foretold 
the arrival of the Christian Missionaries a long 
time before they had come to this country. It 
is certain, at all events, that distinguished 
members of the order were among the first 
converts to Christianity here, and that by their 
learning and influence, they much contributed 
to the success of, even, Saint Patrick himself, in 
extending the true religion, and in erecting 
churches to the worship of the true God, all 
over the island. 



CHAPTER III. 



THE ANCIENT CHURCHES OF IRELAND. 

When the first Christian Missionaries came to Ire- 
land, Christianity h^d in other places passed 
through a persecution of three hundred years. — 
Where the Faithful met for prayer during that 
time. — The Ancient Churches of Ireland resemble 
the Ancient Churches of Greece. — The Ancient 
Churches built east and west, with the Altar in 
the east end, like those of greece. — the dead 
Buried near the Churches on the south side. — 
Faces of the dead towards the Altar and the east. 
— Form, Masonry, Doors, Windows, and Architec- 
tural Peculiarities of the Ancient Churches. — 
Irish Names of Churches. — Their Meaning, and 
from what source derived. — deartheach, the 
House of Tears, and the Public Penances. — Chief 
Stations of Public Penances. — Remains of them still 

EXISTING. — AFRIONN, OR AFRIONN De, THE ANCIENT 

Irish Name for the Mass ; its Meaning. — The Names, 

Baile, Cluain, and Cill, and what they mean The 

Age of the Ancient Churches an age of Learning. — 
Foreign Students came to Ireland, and Irish 
Missionaries went to Foreign Countries. — Chief 
Schools of Learning in Ireland. — The Schools 
destroyed by the danes, and also the churches. — 
The Cele-De, or Culdee. — The famous Irish Archi- 
tect, Goban Saor, his cleverness, and the Traditions 
still existing in his regard. 

WHEN the first Christian Missionary came to 
Ireland to plant the truths of the Gospel in the 
waste or perverted minds of its Pagan people, 
Christianity had, already, in other places, passed 
through a persecution of three hundred years. 



THE ANCIENT CHURCHES. 



H3 



During that glorious, but stern and dreary 
period, the Christians had neither temples, 
churches, nor chapels for the performance of 
their worship, except in very' few favoured 
places, and within the fitful short intervals of 
peace. For prayer and for the celebration of 
the mysteries of their religion, they were com- 
pelled to assemble, stealthily, in the private 
houses of fellow-believers, in the caves of the 
rocks, and, very often, in the caverns, or spacious 
tombs of the dead. Whether it was owing to 
the silent attraction of sorrow, or to the love and 
veneration entertained for those who had died 
for the faith, the dark abodes of the dead were 
their favourite meeting places. From the early 
Christian writers we learn that a movable 
wooden altar, somewhat hollow on the upper 
surface, after the pattern of the altar of the 
Mosaic Arc, was carried to these places, and 
that on it were performed the mysteries, or 
sacred rites, of their religion. 

After the conversion to Christianity of the 
Emperor Constantine, this persecution ceased. 
The Christians were then allowed the free 
exercise of their religion, with permission, even, 
to erect edifices for the public performance of 
their worship. The places where they had 
formerly assembled for that purpose were 
regarded by them with a peculiar veneration, 
and there, according to favouring circumstances, 



144 



THE ANCIENT CHURCHES. 



they erected the house, or the structure, destined 
for the worship of God. It was thus that so 
many of the. early churches rose up in the 
cemeteries over the graves and the tombs of the 
martyrs. 

These early churches in other lands served as 
models for the first houses dedicated to the 
Christian worship in Ireland. Ithas been remarked 
that the early Irish churches resembled, in many 
features, the simple primitive churches of Greece. 
Like these, they are, invariably, built east and 
west, with the altar in the east end, or gable, 
and the entrance in the west. At the door, or 
entrance, was placed a font of water with which 
those entering the church or chapel sprinkled 
themselves. In facing the east at prayer, they 
were following the custom of the Hebrews ; and 
by it also, they expressed a belief in the future 
resurrection. In Isaias, chapter xlL, the Just 
One is expected from the east, and in Psalm lxvii. 
It is a curious fact, as we have already seen, that 
the Druids, too, faced the east at prayer and 
sacrifice. In an old treatise on the consecration 
of a church, still preserved in Ireland, and which 
is ascribed to the seventh or eighth century, there 
are laid down rules and instructions which sup- 
pose that the altar was always at the east end, 
and the general entrance, or door, at the west 
end, of the edifice. Even an older document, in 
the shape of a prophecy by the Druids, quoted 



OF IRELAND. 



145 



in the ancient life of Saint Patrick, indicates the 
same thing. Three years before the arrival of 
the saint in Ireland, it is stated that two chief 
Druids announced his speedy coming to the 
monarch Laeghaire, in the following words : — 

" A Tailcean will come over the raging sea ; 
With his perforated garment, his crooked-headed staff, 
And his table at the east end of his house." 

In the Greek or Eastern Church this eastern 
position for the altar has been most scrupulously 
observed even to this day ; while in the Latin, 
or Western Church, it may face indifferently any 
point of the heavens. 

Till lately this rule with respect to the position 
of the church was observed in Ireland with 
scrupulous fidelity. In the year 1575, Gerald, 
the great Earl of Desmond, after escaping from 
the keepers of his prison in Dublin Castle, rode 
rapidly all the way to Munster on horseback. 
He and his faithful follower and attendant, 
Gowran M'Sweeney, found it necessary to con- 
ceal themselves in the glens and woods by day, 
and continue the journey at night; and it is 
stated that their course to the south, over hill 
and dale, was directed by the invariable position 
of the churches. The confiscations and wars of 
a subsequent • period produced confusion and 
disorder in, almost, everything ; but even now 
the old rule for the position of a church is observed 

H 



146 



THE ANCIENT CHURCHES 



wherever the circumstances of site and space are 
found to be favourable for it. 

The eastern position is, in Ireland, most 
strictly observed in the burial of the dead. Ac- 
cording to the general rule, or rubric, of the 
Church, the laity are to be buried with the face 
turned in the direction of the altar, while the 
priests, or the clergy, are to be buried in the 
opposite direction, that is, facing the people, or 
their flocks. But so universal was the rule 
in Ireland of having the churches and chapels 
built east and west, with the altar in the east 
end, that even now the ancient custom of bury- 
ing the dead with the face to the east, is scarcely 
ever deviated from, in the cemetery, whatever 
may be the position of the altar. This rule is 
scrupulously observed by persons of all classes, 
in deference to the ancient custom of the 
country. Like those of the early Christians in 
foreign lands, the churches in Ireland were 
generally erected near the graves of the dead ; 
or the dead were brought to repose near the 
churches. For the most part the graves are 
always found to be placed on one side of these 
ancient sacred structures, and that side was the 
south. Hence the Irish saying, Is mo la bheig 
aguinn air thaob han teampiiil ; " Many a day 
we shall have on the side of the church." Even 
at present, there seems to be some reluctance 
on the part of the people to bury their dead on 



OF IRELAND. 



147 



the north side. From what does this arise ? It 
was only on the south side there were any 
windows, or apertures for light and air in these 
old churches ; and it is surmised that the people 
wished to have the graves of their dead in view 
from the church, that they might, so far, hold 
with them a communion of sympathy and 
prayer. Perhaps, also, this position on the right 
of the priest and of the altar was intended to 
express the hope that they would be found on 
the right hand of Christ, at the last day, to 
receive a favourable judgment. There was, 
certainly, something very touching and sugges- 
tive in these old churches ; the living worship- 
ing inside, and their dead reposing outside, with 
their faces to the east, awaiting the great Resur- 
rection. 

Compared with modern edifices, these ancient 
structures were, in architectural details and in 
size, of very modest pretensions. We have no 
proof that churches of a circular, or circular- 
polygonal, form, were erected in Ireland as in 
other Christian countries. Some think that 
there were such here, but that under the 
influence of time and change, all vestiges of 
them have disappeared. These oval structures 
have been found in the Eastern and Western 
countries of Christendom ; and, even, in Abys- 
sinia some of the same form were discovered on 
the occasion of the late English expedition 



148 THE ANCIENT CHURCHES 

against the empire of Theodore. By them it 
was intended to represent and perpetuate the 
old idea of the Temple, that is, of the round 
structure dedicated to divine worship. If they 
ever existed in Ireland they have wholly 
disappeared ; and the oldest sacred structures 
now remaining are of the quadrangular form. 
These are generally of an oblong shape, varying 
from sixty to eighty feet in length, and from 
twelve to sixteen feet in breadth. Even there 
are many of still smaller dimensions ; but, 
perhaps, these latter are to be regarded as 
private oratories or chapels, and not as public 
churches. It is stated in the Life of St. Patrick, 
that the original Cathedral of Armagh was one 
hundred and forty feet long. Few, however, of 
even the Episcopal Churches approached to that 
magnitude. 

While, in most of these old churches, the 
edifice consisted of a plain single quadrangle, 
there were some that had a prolongation or 
section, running or extending to the east, and 
constituting the chancel, or place for the altar 
and clergy, and which was connected with the 
main house by a triumphal arch of a semi- 
circular form. The walls of these houses, 
generally about twelve feet high, were composed 
of stones, with, and sometimes without, lime 
cement. The walls were always perpendicular, 
and generally formed of large polygonal, or 



OF IRELAND. 



149 



many-sided, stones, carefully fitted to each other 
on the inner and outer surfaces. The centre of 
the walls was filled, or packed up, with rubble 
and grouting. The material of the roofs con- 
sisted of timber, covered over with straw, flags, 
heath, rushes, or shingles. In many instances, 
especially with respect to the smaller churches, 
the roofs were entirely of stones, or stone 
flags, continued up to the apex of the roof, 
in diminished series, from the perpendicular 
walls. 

The windows and doors were of very simple 
form, and of small dimensions. If these, in their 
plainness, can be said to possess any architectural 
style, it is of somewhat a confused or varied 
character. And, yet, the general features appear 
to have been produced according to some 
common model. The door, invariably placed 
in the middle of the west gable, had a square 
head formed by a horizontal stone lintel, often 
running through the breadth of the wall The 
height of the doors varied from five to six feet six 
inches high, and their breadth from two feet ten 
inches to three feet six inches. For the most 
part the doorways were wider at the bottom 
than at the top, as their sides inclined ; and 
they were generally formed of very massive 
stones. In "many instances a cross was inscribed 
on the outer surface of the stone lintel. The 
east window was of a semi-circular form, the 



I 50 THE ANCIENT CHURCHES 



head of the arch being sometimes composed of 
a single cut stone, and sometimes of two hollowed 
stones meeting at the apex. Where there was 
a chancel, or sanctuary, distinct from the body 
of the edifice, it had, on the south side, one or 
two windows of, generally, an angular shape, 
the heads being often formed by two large 
stones or flags, inclining to each other at the 
upper edges, and running through the thickness 
of the wall. Sometimes these windows were of 
a semicircular form. The nave, or body, of the 
church, which was not, generally, as well lighted 
as the chancel, had two or three windows, some- 
times of a circular, and sometimes of the 
angular form, and sometimes, even, of the square 
form, by being covered over with a horizontal 
stone lintel. These were all on the south side. 
In the chancel sometimes a window opened 
to the north. A window, angular-headed, or 
circular-headed externally, is often quadran- 
gular internally, being there covered by a lintel 
With respect to the nave, there was seldom any 
opening, or aperture, on the north side ; a solid 
dead wall being opposed to the raw breezes 
from that quarter. It is possible that, in an age 
of allegory and figures, this combination and 
variety expressed some sacred meaning, with 
which we are unacquainted at present. All the 
windows splayed inwards for the better trans- 
mission of light, the outer edges, or reveals, 



OF IRELAND. 



151 



being narrow and sharp, doubtless, as a protec- 
tion against the wind and rain. The sides of 
the windows, as well as of the door, incline, or 
hang in, from the perpendicular, in the form or 
shape of what is called Cyclopean building, and, 
thus, they are, generally, more narrow at the 
head than at the base. They seldom exhibit 
any architectural decorations. 

With what materials were these apertures, or 
windows, protected against the storm and rain ? 
It does not appear that there was any provision 
made for the insertion in them of glass, or of 
any similar solid substance of a transparent 
nature. Some think that parchment and horn 
might have been employed for that purpose. It 
is, however, more likely that they were provided 
with only screens of wicker-work or of boards, 
which might be put up, or taken down, accord- 
ing to the exigencies of the weather. Some 
of the windows splayed outwards, as well as 
inwards, and it is supposed that this contrivance 
was intended for the reception of the screens in 
stormy or bad weather. As candles, or lights, 
were always used in the church, at divine wor- 
ship, the occasional closing of the windows, in 
this way, produced no serious inconvenience. 
Large stone crosses, of that which is called the 
Celtic, or round form, were erected near many 
of those old churches of the fifth, sixth, seventh, 
and eighth centuries. These churches must have 



152 THE ANCIENT CHURCHES 



been very numerous even at a very early period ; 
for our ancient annals state that Saint Patrick 
himself founded over three hundred monasteries, 
consecrated about three hundred bishops, and 
ordained three thousand priests. 

An erroneous idea prevailed at one time to 
the effect that, in the early periods of Christianity 
in this country, the Irish had neither stone-built 
houses, nor stone-built churches. It was even 
believed that they were ignorant of the use of 
stone and mortar for the erection of such edifices. 
Saint Bernard himself was led into an error of 
this kind. Facts, however, prove the contrary. 
Even in the times of the Druids, as we have 
seen, there were stone buildings, rude, no doubt, 
and perhaps without lime cement, as far as we 
can judge by the specimens that remain. These 
had not the arch ; because, perhaps, the stone 
lintel was found to be more ready and conve- 
nient, and, for the buildings then in use, equally 
"solid. But to suppose that the early Christians 
of this country, who had for religious instructors 
men of learning from foreign lands, continued 
to be ignorant of the uses of stone and mortar 
for building purposes, is as much against facts, 
as it is against universal experience. Undoubtedly 
wooden and wicker-work edifices were some- 
times used as houses of worship here, as well as 
in other countries ; but their presence in some 
places did not necessarily imply the total absence 



OF IRELAND. 



153 



of stone and mortar edifices elsewhere. Modern 
inquiry has settled the matter fully in the opposite 
direction. 

Parts of the structures of some of the ancient 
churches, still remaining, are found combined 
with additions and improvements of a more 
modern date, of, perhaps, the ninth, tenth, and 
eleventh centuries. In some instances a new 
nave was added to the original building, and the 
whole of the old church was converted into a 
chancel. In other cases a new chancel was added, 
and the whole of the old church was made the 
nave, doubtless, in both cases, to give increased 
accomodation to both priests and people. These 
changes and additions are easily discerned by 
the difference of the masonry and the materials; 
the primitive building always exhibiting the Cy- 
clopean, or irregular, laying of the stones, and the 
more modern portions shewing the stones laid 
in courses more regular. 

Some minor changes and transformations, too, 
are noticed in these old churches. In Corkbegg, 
on the harbour of Queenstown, are the ruins of 
a very old church, not perhaps of the original 
type, but belonging to the second generation of 
these ancient edifices. It has the usual narrow 
windows splaying inwards. They are angular- 
headed externally, but quadangular internally, 
being there covered with lintels. The church is 
fifty-three feet long, and eighteen broad within 

H 2 



154 



THE ANCIENT CHURCHES 



the walls. The masonry exhibits, to a consider- 
able extent, the usual irregular laying of the 
stones. This old church underwent a change, or 
transformation, by the removal of the door from 
the west to the south side, and by the introduction 
of dressed stone into the reveals of the side 
windows. The jambs of the door have also 
chiseled stones, among which is introduced in- 
side, to the right, the old honey-combed holy- 
water font which, probably, belonged to the 
original entrance. The east window is destroyed ; 
but in the wall, on the right side of it, is a 
dressed stone corbel, on which, most likely, rested 
one end of the altar. That part, too, probably 
had its share of the general improvement, or 
remodelling. These changes would appear to 
have been effected about the year 1587 ; for 
these figures are deeply cut on a stone near the 
holy-water font. 

It would seem, however, that it did not continue 
long after to be used as a house of worship. In 
the body of the church is now growing an ash 
tree, which must be tw r o hundred years old, and 
which, probably, was planted there by the hand 
of nature after the destruction of the roof and 
a portion of the walls. It throws its brawny- 
arms aloft, and looks like a sad old sentinel 
keeping watch and ward over the few graves 
and tombs that have found their way into the 
body of the church. 



OF IRELAND. 



155 



There are many names for churches in the 
Irish language. They are fine expressive com- 
pounds, formed from pure Celtic roots, and are, 
manifestly, representatives of the names which 
the early Christians in other countries, particularly 
in the East, bestowed on their churches. The 
general name of church, both in the east and 
west, was ecclesia, which meant the assembly of 
the faithful, as well as the place where they met 
for divine worship. To the sacred structure, 
however, were often given various other names. 
From Saint Clement of Rome, from Saint 
Isidore, from Tertullian and other ancient writers, 
we learn that among the early Christians, ecclesia, 
or the church } was called the " House of God," 
the " House of the Lord," or the " Lord's Struc- 
ture," the " House of the Dove," (in reference to 
the Holy Ghost), and Basilick ,the "House of the 
King" or of the Lord, that is, of the Kingof Kings, 
from the Greek word basileus, which signifies 
"a king." These names were suggested by various 
passages of the Sacred Scriptures, and especially 
by the words of the Patriarch Jacob, who, in re- 
ference to the spot where he had seen the wonder- 
ful vision, exclaimed, "How terrible is this place! 
" This is no other than the house of God and 
" the gate of heaven." The same ancient writers 
tell us that the churches were also often called 
the Memorials of the Martyrs, of the Apostles, 
of the Dead, &c, &c. It is stated that during 



156 



THE ANCIENT CHURCHES 



the first four centuries of the Church, tne name 
of temple was seldom bestowed on these edifices, 
to avoid even the appearance of any connexion 
with Pagan practices. But when paganism dis- 
appeared, this abstention was not necessary nor 
observed. The following are the principal names 
of churches in the Irish language : — 

Ceall, or Cill, 

Domhnach. 

Daimhliag, 

Reiglios, 

Eclios, 

Teampull. 

Ceall (pronounced kayel), is commonly de- 
rived from the Latin word, cella, which means 
" a cell." It is, however, a Celtic name ; for, 
undoubtedly, the Celtic word cai, or ca which 
means " a house," enters into the formation of 
it. Ceall appears to be a compound word formed 
from cat, "a house," and ell, "a flock or mul- 
titude;" or from cai, "a house," and ail, "a 
stone." "The house of the flock," however, 
appears to be more natural than the " house of 
stone." The modern Irish name of a church, 
as, at present, used in Connaught and other 
parts of Ireland, is teach pobuil, that is, "the 
house of the people," or " of the congregation," 
which corresponds perfectly with the ancient 



OF IRELAND. I 57 

ceall y or "the house of the flock." At a very 
early period the Christian congregations had 
the name of flock bestowed on them, as we see 
by Acts xx. 28, where it is said — " Take heed 
to yourselves and to the whole flock wherein 
the Holy Ghost hath placed you bishops." 
Possibly the word ceall, or " house of the flock," 
originally meant "the house of the religious 
community and its chapel," while afterwards, 
the name passed to an isolated church or chapel 
in the country. As a proof that the word cat, 
" a house," enters into the formation of ceall, it 
may be stated that near Cloyne is the lone rem- 
nant of the ruins of an ancient religious estab- 
lishment which is, indifferently, called ceall-tes- 
kin, and tigh-teskin. Tigh-teskin, means " the 
house of teskin ;" that is, " the house either of 
the barren head," or "the house of the head of 
the water." The particular ceall was generally 
qualified or distinguished by the addition of the 
name of the patron saint, or of the founder, or 
of some local peculiarity, such as ceall-Mhuire, 
" the flock house of Mary ;" ceall-Colmain, the 
flock house of Coleman ;" ceall diiibh-duin, " the 
flock or congregation house of the black fortress." 
The number of these churches must have been 
very great in Ireland at one time, as it would 
be difficult to enumerate all the places which 
from them are called by the name of ceall, or 
cilL 



158 THE ANCIENT CHURCHES 



Another derivation would deduce the name 
from cai, " a house," and ceal, " heaven/' the c 
in ceal being left out by ellipsis, as is usual in 
formations of the kind. This would make it 
in accordance with the words of the Scriptures — 
"house of God and gate of heaven." In the 
same way would the Scottish word kirk, be 
formed from cai, " a house," and earc, " heaven ;" 
and the English word church would only be a 
variation of the original Celtic name. This 
derivation appears very natural and expres- 
sive. 

Cill (pronounced keel) is generally regarded 
as only an inflection of the name, cealL Yet, I 
believe they regarded different objects. Cill 
would appear to be formed from cai, " a house," 
and il, "of the rock;" that is, a rock residence, 
whether natural or artificial. This would point 
to the anchoretical life which great numbers 
embraced, in the early ages of the Church in 
Ireland, as well as in other countries. The 
ancient hermit built for himself a little hut of 
stones, and was, as often, content with the 
natural cave in the rock. I believe that his 
lonely residence was designated by the name 
of cill, while the term ceall was bestowed on 
the church. The two words are pronounced 
differently, with distinct accuracy, in the parts 
of the country where the Irish language is well 
spoken ; and this would indicate that they 



OF IRELAND. 



iS9 



meant different objects. But in many places 
now, owing to the gradual decline of Irish, 
ceall and cill> and even coill, " a wood," are con- 
fused and pronounced commonly as "keel." 

The name Domhnach is the softened pronun- 
ciation of domhtach y which is formed of dom y 
"a house," and tack, "of God," or "godly;" 
that is, " the house of God." Tacit comes from 
ta, which seems to be the original name of God 
in the Celtic language. In the Irish annals we 
also meet the word, cathach y which means, like- 
wise, "the house of God," from ca, " a house," 
and tachy " of God," or " godly." The late 
Professor O'Curry, introduces these two words 
in his fifteenth lecture on Irish manuscripts, 
and avows his inability to discover the roots 
or the real meaning of them. A very curious 
and ancient box, containing a Latin manuscript 
of the Gospels, which is believed to have come 
down from Saint Patrick, is called by the name 
of Domhnach airgid. Domhnach airgid means 
"the house of God of silver." This box, or 
case, is richly ornamented with that metal. 
Another box containing a copy of the Psalms 
supposed to be as old as Saint Columba, is 
called cathaclu Cathach means, also, " the house 
of God." It was usual to give the name of 
church, or house of God, to an ancient case 
containing relics. In other countries the name 
of apsis } or apse, which means "the chancel of a 



160 THE ANCIENT CHURCHES 



church," was given to a reliquary, or case in which 
relics were preserved. In treating of the old 
manuscripts, O'Curry declares that he is unable 
to discover the roots or meaning of the Irish 
words domJinacli and cathach. 

The name domJinach is traced up to the highest 
ages of Christianity in Ireland; and there are 
many places called by that name, doubtless, 
because they possessed some of these early 
churches. 

The word domlinach has, also, given its modern 
Irish name to Sunday. In the Druidical times 
it was called Dia-snil, " the day of the sun." It 
is at present, and perhaps since the introduction 
of Christianity, called Dia-domhmiig, that is, "the 
day of the house of God." 

Daimhliag is an abbreviated pronunciation of 
dom-uile-ic, that is, " the house of all the dead," 
from dotn, "a house," uile, " all," and ecc, " dead." 
It got this name, because most of the churches 
were attached to the graveyards ; for the dead 
were brought to repose near their walls. This name 
of daimhliag has been misinterpreted by even 
some of the best Irish antiquaries. They make 
it " the house of stone," from dom, " a house," 
and leac y " a stone." That, manifestly, is not 
as appropriate or as natural a formation of the 
word as " the house of all the dead," or of the 
grave-yard. And this is confirmed by even the 
name of grave-yard in the Irish language which 



OF IRELAND. 



161 



is reileig, from reidh, " a piece of ground," uile> 
"all," and eag, or ecc, "dead;" that is, "the place, 
or field, of all the dead." The grave itself is 
called uaimhig from uaimh, "a cave," and ecc, 
" dead." 

The word reiglios, is an abbreviated pro- 
nunciation of reileiglios, and means "the house 
of the grave-yard ;" from reidh " a piece of 
ground," uile " all," ecc " dead," and lios " a 
house." 

The next name, eclios, means also, " the 
house of the dead ;" from ecc, " dead," and lios, 
" a house." The churches and chapels, called by 
these names, had always graves or grave-yards 
attached to them. Eclios, however, is commonly 
derived from the Latin word ecclesia, which 
means " a church." 

The name, teampull, as applied to a house, 
or place, of worship, has come down from even 
the Druidical times. For some special reasons, 
perhaps to avoid any reference to Paganism, this 
name was not generally bestowed by the early 
Christians of this country on their churches. 
The name was revived and used, for this pur- 
pose, only when the Druids and their worship 
had passed away. Teampull means " the 
round house, or structure ;" from tint (pro- 
nounced teem), "time," and cal, "to surround ;" 
that is, the endless circle of time, which was a 
favourite idea of the Druids, and of which the 



THE ANCIENT CHURCHES 



teampull, or round pillared temple, was an 
emblem. 

It was usual in Ireland to add the word 
mor> w T hich signifies " large," to these names of 
churches. We are told that the same custom 
prevailed in the East. Thus we have domhnach 
mor, " the large house of God," damhliag mor, 
the " large house of all the dead," &c, &c. 
In many localities there were seven churches 
grouped within a short distance of one another. 
They represented the mystical number of the 
Apocalypse, and of, perhaps, the seven sacred 
Orders of Ireland. Clonmicnois had its seven 
churches, as, also, Glendalough, Roscrea, 
Devenish, Scattery Island, and many other 
places. 

The custom of blessing wells, or natural water 
fonts, prevailed in the age of these early 
churches. In the Leabhar Breac, or Speckled 
Book, it is stated that St. Columbkille blessed 
three hundred of them, " and these were of con- 
stant flow." 

In connexion with the ancient churches we 
have the names, Deartheach, Cuilctheach, Cloic- 
theach, Cloigtheach, which have been complete 
puzzles to our antiquaries. Cuilctheach, Cloic- 
theach, and Cloigtheach are names bestowed on 
the famous Round Tower of our country, an 
object to which I intend to devote a separate 
chapter. But what was the Deartheach ? Some of 



OF IRELAND. 



our antiquaries say it was an hospital, and others 
think it was an oratory, or a hermitage. 

Deartheachy or deortheachy means "the house 
of tears ;" from deor, " a tear," and teach y " a 
house." But, what is the meaning of the house 
of tears ? An ancient Christian practice will 
throw some light upon it. 

In the early ages of Christianity, public 
penance was, very generally, practised both in 
the Greek and Latin Churches. Upon those 
who had been guilty of grievous public crimes, 
it was enforced with great severity, and often 
extended over a period of twenty years, and, 
sometimes, even during life. In a modified form 
it was voluntarily adopted and practised by even 
good and virtuous people, as an atonement for 
their offences, and as a means of obtaining 
additional grace and favour from God. In the 
fourth century, certain canons, or rules, were 
framed for the regulation of the pious exercises 
connected with this practice, and these were 
called the Penitential Canons. From the clergy 
of the penitentiary church certain officers were 
selected and appointed to direct the exercises. 
The penitents were generally divided into four 
classes, or sections, in each of which they were 
to pass a certain time, according to the length 
and severity of the penitential course prescribed 
for them. The first act was to receive sack- 
cloth and ashes from the hands of the bishop at 



1 64 THE ANCIENT CHURCHES 



the church door, as a symbol of sorrow and 
repentance. The second step was to fall into 
the ranks of those who, in the language of the 
Latin Church, were called the Flentes ; that is, 
" the weeping or sorrowful." Here we have the 
meaning of deartlieacli, or " the house of tears ;" 
for it was the lodging, or apartment, assigned to 
these penitents. There were, often, several of 
these attached to the penitentiary church for the 
accommodation of all classes, and, perhaps, of 
both sexes. They were sometimes constructed 
of wood and sometimes of stone ; and were from 
twenty to thirty feet long, by twelve or fifteen 
feet broad. Like the churches, they had the 
door in the west gable, and a window at the 
east, with scarcely any aperture in the side 
walls, in accordance, perhaps, with the ideas of 
sorrow and gloom. They must, however, have 
been, in some instances, of much larger dimen- 
sions ; for we read in the Irish Annals, that 
about the year 849, the dearteach of Trevet was 
struck by lightning, and that two hundred and 
sixty persons perished in it. The victims of 
this calamity, doubtless, were the pilgrims and 
penitents, who were reposing, or performing their 
devotions, in the " house of tears." 

It is unnecessary here to state the various 
exercises to be performed by the penitents in 
each of the four grades, or classes. It will 
suffice to say that certain restraints were 



OF IRELAND. 



removed, and certain spiritual privileges granted, 
according as they passed from one grade to the 
other, and that, in the end, they received 
absolution, and were admitted to Holy Com- 
munion. Then followed their very often, per- 
haps, reluctant departure from the penitential 
station and its " tears." 

And the name of dearteach, or " the house of 
tears," was not simply a figurative expression. 
In speaking of the public penances of his own 
time, St. Ambrose, the great bishop of Milan, 
in Italy, who wrote about the year 380, says — 
" I have known many persons who, during the 
period of their penance, disfigured their faces by 
dint of weeping for their sins, whose cheeks 
were furrowed by the constant rush of tears, 
and whose fastings and austerities were such as 
to produce in them the very image of death." 
The penitential canons of Ireland were, accord- 
ing to ancient rule, very severe. For instance, 
the crime of murder was to be expiated by a 
penance of seven years on bread and water, and 
by being excluded from Holy Communion till 
the period of death. The penance for other crimes 
was proportionably heavy. Even it was enacted 
that a person who refused to receive guests under 
his roof, to give alms, or to exercise hospitality, 
should, for the time he spent in that course, do 
penance for an equal period on bread and water ; 
and if he remained obstinate in his avarice, he 



1 66 THE ANCIENT CHURCHES 

was to be separated from the body of the 
faithful. 

It appears that these public penances were 
continued in Ireland down to a comparatively 
late period, to the twelfth, thirteenth, and 
perhaps, the fourteenth century. We learn 
from some Irish documents that dearteachs 
were erected in this country up to the twelfth 
century, and that payment for their erection 
was made in cows ; that is, that the artificer, or 
builder, received so many cows for each struc- 
ture, according to the durability and expense of 
the materials. In the same way was payment, 
also, made for the erection of churches. 

Even to this day there are to be found in 
Ireland vestiges, or remains, of the ancient 
public penances. The pilgrimages which are 
performed at the sites of the old churches and 
monasteries are, manifestly, remnants of them ; 
and it is most likely that the places which are 
frequented for this purpose were formerly 
regularly established penitential stations. Among 
these stands conspicuously the station of Clon- 
micnois, otherwise called the Seven Churches, 
on the Shannon. It got the name of Clonmic- 
nois, from Clon, " a residence," mw, " sons," and 
nois y " noble ;" because it was a famous school 
for the sons of the nobility in former ages. And 
it was called the Seven Churches, because the 
group of buildings consisted of seven churches, 



OF IRELAND. 



167 



and was, perhaps, composed of a church belong- 
ing to each of the seven Religious Orders of 
Ireland, or perhaps, because they were made to 
represent the mystical number, seven, of the 
Apocalypse, and of the Scriptures. But, perhaps, 
the most frequented of these penitential places 
now is Saints' Island, in Lough Dearg, on the 
confines of Donegal and Fermanagh. To this 
station pilgrims resort from all parts of the 
surrounding country, and spend there three, 
six, and sometimes eight days. In the olden 
times, princes and nobles from foreign lands 
came there, accompanied by large retinues of 
friends and followers, to perform their devotions. 
The station opens about the beginning of 
June, and lasts to the fifteenth of August. The 
exercises commence in the evening, and the first 
night is spent in perfect silence and wakeful- 
ness in the church, or chapel. The succeeding 
days are devoted to prayer and meditation ; and 
the penitential course is concluded when they 
go to confession and receive Holy Communion. 
In all these exercises, particularly with respect 
to Confession and Communion, the penitents 
receive the kindest attention from the local 
Friars, and, often, from the secular clergy. Of 
course, among such numbers there are noticed 
various shades of devotional anxiety and atten- 
tion ; but all seem to be animated by a desire 
of performing the exercises well. It is mar- 



l68 THE ANCIENT CHURCHES 



vellous to see how some of the features of the 
old Public Penances are here preserved. There 
is no bishop to give them the sack-cloth and 
ashes ; but as a substitute for them they cover 
their heads with a cloth, perhaps with a dark- 
coloured handkerchief; and they go through 
the exercises barefooted. Even the stern Peni- 
tentiary of old, with his whip, is, in a manner, 
represented there. In the chapel, on the first 
night of silence and wakefulness, is a person 
carrying in his hand an ozier twig, or branch, 
with which he touches slightly on the head, or 
cheek, any of those on whom he w r ould perceive 
the indications of sleep. And his monitions are 
always received with the most perfect good 
humour. 

This station is called in the language of the 
country, Purgadorect Naor Phadrwg, which 
means literally, " the Purgatory of St. Patrick." 
In the Irish language Purgadorect means a 
severe penitential course, and, also, suffering, or 
purgatory ; and it is supposed that it got its 
name from the fact of its having been appointed, 
or inaugurated, as a station for Public Penance, 
by the great Apostle of Ireland. 

And the people, even under their own guid- 
ance, cling to these ancient pious customs, or 
practices, with wonderful tenacity. At Glen- 
dha-lough, in the county of Wicklow, a place 
which, also, had its seven churches, the mystical 



OF IRELAND. 



169 



seven of the Apocalypse and of high antiquity, 
there is a famous station for penitential pilgrims. 
Some time ago, in consequence of abuses which 
had occurred there in the way of rioting and 
drunkenness, a neighbouring bishop resolved to 
keep the people from the usual annual obser- 
vance. The priests were directed to com- 
municate his instructions to their flocks ; but 
still great numbers went there as usual. Among 
these was a carman named Jemmy O'Rourke, 
who, when he next met the priest, was brought 
to an account for having violated the prohibi- 
tion. Jemmy's answer was very characteristic, 
and probably conveyed the sentiments of all 
those who had followed the same course. " I 
have been," said he, " going to that place for 
the last thirty-five years ; I don't go there to 
drink or to fight, but to say a few prayers, 
and do a little penance. It is only pickpockets 
and scoundrels that go there for a bad purpose, 
and, sure, they go everywhere. My father and 
grandfather went there, and, I believe, all my 
fathers up to the days of St. Patrick ; and, 
bedad, Father John, with all due respect, what- 
ever bishop or archbishop may say, I'll go 
there to the end." 

Remains, in a modified form, of the old pen- 
ances are still, however, conducted under eccle- 
siastical guidance. For instance, the abbot of 
Mount Melleray, in the county of Waterford, 



170 



THE ANCIENT CHURCHES 



receives at his monastery persons, whether priests 
or laymen, who may be disposed to spend some 
time there in spiritual retreat or retirement. 
His u house of tears," with its apartments for 
penitents, may not equal in rigour and austerity 
the dearteach of the olden times ; but it, certainly, 
is not inferior to it in neatness, hospitality, and 
godly refinement. 

In many of the dearteachs stone altars were 
placed, as in the churches, under the east win- 
dow ; and it is inferred from this fact that 
they were occasionally, perhaps, for the con- 
venience of the penitents, used as oratories, or 
private chapels. It is much to be regretted that 
the religious fanaticism of a subsequent age fell 
with peculiar destruction on these ancient altars, 
as, otherwise, they would now, certainly, be 
very interesting objects of antiquarian and artistic 
study. The action, or religious service, per- 
formed on these altars, is, in the Irish language, 
called afrionn, or afrionn-de y a name that is 
traced up to the earliest period of Christianity 
in Ireland, and which is still familiar to the 
tongues of the native population. 

What is the meaning of this word afrionn ? 
All the dictionaries of the Celtic language say 
that it means the Mass ; but they give us no 
further explanation of it. Some of the lexico- 
graphers, such as O'Brien, say that it is an 
original Celtic word meaning " a sacrifice." Of 



OF IRELAND. 



171 



this, however, they fail to give any proof. 
Others endeavour to derive it from the Latin 
root, offero y " to offer," and others, again, such 
as the author of the Gaelic Dictionary of Scot- 
land, strive to trace it to the Arabic and Chal- 
daic languages. It is, certainly, a singular fact, 
that Ireland is the only country of the Western 
Church which has a peculiar name of its own 
for the Mass. In all the rest it is a variation 
of the Latin word Missa, such as Mass, Messe, 
Misa y Missa y Masse, &c. of the English, 
French, Spanish, Italian, German, &c. In 
the Irish it is afrionn-de, or afrionn, and it was 
so, too, in the ancient language of Britain, 
Scotland, and Wales. 

The word, afrionn, is not derived from the 
Latin, Arabic, Chaldaic, or any other foreign 
language. It is a compound word, formed from 
pure Celtic roots. It means "the very true lamb," 
from a y " very," for, " true," and uan y "lamb." 
It is popularly called afrionn-de f which means 
" the very true Lamb of God." Manifestly, 
this word was formed in the Celtic language by 
the early Irish Christians or their missionaries, 
from the following expressions of holy Scripture: 
" The next day John saw Jesus coming to him, 
and he saith : Behold the Lamb of God, behold 
Him who taketh away the sin of the world." 
John i. 29. " For Christ our pasch, is sacri- 
ficed." 1 Cor. v. 7. " But with the precious 



172 



THE ANCIENT CHURCHES 



blood of Christ, as of a lamb unspotted and 
undefiled." I Peter i. 19. " White in the blood 
of the Lamb." Rev. vii. 14. "The Lamb, which 
was slain from the beginning of the world," 
Rev. xiii. 8. 

In the service of the Church reference is often 
made to the Lamb, especially in the Mass, where 
it says, " Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him 
who taketh away the sins of the world," and in 
the Preface for the blessing of the Paschal candle 
on Easter Saturday, where it says, "This is the 
Paschal solemnity in which that true Lamb is 
slain." 

These expressions of Scripture and the words 
of the Church service are beautifully rendered, 
condensed, in this Irish word, afrion, or a-ftor- 
nan-de, " the very true Lamb of God." It is not 
alone by words this idea is expressed, but also 
by signs and emblems. The figure of the lamb 
with the cross is often inscribed on the front of 
the altar, and woven in the vestments of the 
priest. There is no particular rule for this 
practice, but it appears that in Ireland it may 
be traced up to the most early Christian period. 
The popular language and tradition hand down 
to us a form of oath, or mode of swearing, that 
is intimately connected with this word afrionn. 
It was at one time, during the middle ages, 
customary to swear by the Mass, and by the 
Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist. The same 



OF IRELAND. 



173 



practice existed, to some extent, in Ireland ; and 
the form of the oath was, Dar an afrionn cum- 
hachdachy that is, " By the powerful very true 
Lamb." This oath still lives in the language of 
the people ; but from a feeling of reverence, it is 
very seldom used. It does not belong to the 
province of the antiquary to discuss the pro- 
priety of these oaths on any occasions, or per- 
haps the still greater propriety of their abolition. 
The matter is referred to here merely because 
it throws an additional ray of light on the 
meaning of the word afrionn y for which, I trust, 
it will not be necessary, any more, to hunt in the 
Arabic and Chaldaic languages. 

Here the question naturally suggests itself — • 
Why has Ireland a name for the Mass different 
from that which prevails in all the other 
countries of the Western Church? It must 
have been that either the first Christian Mission- 
aries to Ireland came from the East, or that Chris- 
tianity was preached in the country before the 
word, Missa, or Mass, was generally adopted to 
designate this great action of the altar. It is a 
singular fact, that for the Mass, for the Churches, 
for the Sacraments, and for the offices of 
religion, there are in Ireland purely Celtic names, 
formed from pure Celtic roots, without any 
foreign admixture. Thus, among other nations, 
the general names for the Sacrament of the 
altar are Eucharist, and the Lord's Supper ; while 



1/4 THE ANCIENT CHURCHES 

in Ireland it is Corp Chriost, that is, " the Body 
of Christ." This Celtic name seems to have 
been formed directly from the words of our 
Saviour, Touto esti to soma mote, "this is my 
body." When Christianity reached this country, 
it found there a copious, expressive, and settled 
language, which, by its fecundity in primitive 
roots and beautiful compounds, was capable of 
supplying words for all the points of practice 
and of belief, without the intervention of any 
foreign admixture. 

In connexion with the sites of the ancient 
churches of Ireland, there is frequent men- 
tion of the names of Baile, Cluain, and Cffl 9 
such as Baile-Tobair-Phadraig, "the Bally of 
the well of Patrick;" Clitain-mic-nois, "the 
Cloyne of the sons of the nobility ;" and 
Cill-Mhuire, "the Cill of Mary." Baile is a 
compound word, formed from ball, " a part," 
and i (pronounced ee) y "a country ;" that is, a 
definite, or circumscribed, part of a country. 
Cluain is a compound word, formed from clui x 
"a ditch, or ridge of earth," and ain, "a circle ;" 
that is, a circumvallation round a church, a 
monastery, or a residence. An illustration of 
this is to be found in a description which is given 
of Clonagh, in the County of Kildare, as it 
existed at one time. " In it," it says, "was a 
piece of ground surrounded by a ditch, and in 
the centre of the circle were a stone cross, a 
church, and two yew-trees, from one of which 



OF IRELAND. 



175 



hung a bell." Ceal and cill, as we have already- 
seen, mean "the house of Heaven, or the house 
of the flock, and the house, or cell, of stone." 
The one refers to the church, and the other, 
probably, to the cell, or hut, of the hermit. 
They are now commonly confused in the single 
name, keel, and often, even, confounded with 
coill, " a wood." In the popular language ceal, 
or cilly means a " grave-yard," as the dead were 
buried near the churches. No spot on earth was 
more ardently desired by the Irishman for a 
last resting-place than the side of the church 
where he and his forefathers had worshipped. 

Among the structures, or places of this class, 
there is frequent mention of cill-tnor, " the 
large ei$" and cilleen, the " small, or lesser cilf" 
or church. From the primitive church the 
name of ceall was, in many instances, at an early 
period, communicated to a portion of the sur- 
rounding country, to an entire parish, and, even, 
to a diocese ; and it continues attached to them 
to this day. The same has occurred with respect 
to the name cluain. 

The age of the ancient churches shone out 
like a bright star in Ireland. Among the Celtic 
nations the Erin of this period was, in the old 
tongue, called " Oilean Naoimh agus Ollaimh 
that is, " the Island of Saints and of Learned 
Men ;" or, as it was expressed by the monastic 
writers in Latin, Insula Sanctorum atque Doc- 



176 THE A-NCIENT CHURCHES 



tornm. The disturbing influences arising from 
intestine wars and foreign invasions, which con- 
vulsed other countries, were not at this time felt in 
Ireland. No Roman legion had touched her 
shores, and no horde of barbarians from the 
north had, as yet, established a footing on her 
soil. This peaceful period was devoted to the 
cultivation of sacred and secular knowledge, in 
such a way, as to attract the foreign student 
from beyond the seas, and to inspire the natives 
with zeal for the advancement of religion and of 
learning. It may appear something like romance 
or wild fiction to be told, in a material age like 
the present, that to ancient Christian Ireland 
flocked thousands of foreign students from 
various countries of Europe ; that they received 
a free education in its colleges and monasteries, 
and were, moreover, supplied gratuitously with 
food, raiment, and books. Yet, these facts 
are testified to, not alone by the native anna- 
lists, but by Venerable Bede, and other foreign 
writers. Besides her immunity from foreign 
wars and invasions, at this time, Ireland also 
enjoyed another peculiar advantage. While 
other nations, such as England, France, Spain, 
and even Italy, were endeavouring to form new 
languages for themselves, out of the scattered 
fragments of confused native and foreign mate- 
rials, she possessed an ancient, settled, and 
copious tongue, which had received cultivation 



OF IRELAND. 



and polish from the old Druidical teacher, as 
well as from, the more recent Christian scholar. 

With these advantages, the fame of her schools 
shed a halo of glory on the Ireland of this 
period. Foreigners called her the school of the 
west. Without mentioning various other places 
that may be named, the colleges of Armagh, 
Clonard, Clonfert, Clonmicnois, and Bangor 
counted their pupils by hundreds, and even, in 
some instances, by thousands. On the south- 
western coast of the island, is a now comparatively 
insignificant place called Rosscarberry. In 
the age of the early churches it was called Ros- 
ailerigy that is, the " plain of the pilgrims," from 
the numbers of students, native and foreign, who 
flocked to its schools. Ailerig, or oilerig, is a 
compound word, formed from aill y " a journey," 
air y "on," and z (pronounced ee)> "land." Lismore, 
another place in the south, was extolled, by 
even foreigners, for its generous hospitality, and 
for the number and excellence of its halls of 
learning. Ireland has also a right to claim Iona, 
an island on the western coast of Scotland, as 
the seat of one of her ancient schools ; for its 
famous monastery and halls of learning were 
the creation of the zeal and genius of St. Co- 
lumcille, a native of Erin. There, in the sixth 
century, was lighted the torch of faith which 
shed an illumining ray on the Islands and High- 
lands of ancient Alba, and attracted pilgrims of 

I 2 



178 THE ANCIENT CHURCHES 



learning and of piety from many of the countries 
of Europe. This place, which even still exhibits, 
in their ruins, many interesting monuments of 
its ancient greatness and sanctity, was called Iona, 
that is " the island of the monks/' from i, " an 
island," and mana, " monks." It was, also, called, 
early, I-colum-cille, the " Island of Columcille," 
from the name of its great saint and founder. 
Ireland, Scotland, and even Norway, have sent 
the ashes of many of their monarchs to repose 
there, in its sacred soil. 

The name of Columcille, or Columba, recalls 
a custom which prevailed among those whom we 
call the early saints of Ireland. It was that of 
assuming or receiving certain names when they 
had embraced the religious state. Columcille 
means the dove of the church, or of the churches, 
from colum, "a dove," and cille, " of the church." 
The name of the dove was in great favour with 
them, probably, from the words of the Gospel, 
" Be simple as doves." Thus, many bore the 
name of Colman, which means the dove-like 
man ; from colum 9 u a dove," and an, " a man." 
Moculmoge was another form of it, from mo, 
" a man," colum, " a dove," and oge, " young." 
Other names were assumed, such as Deglan, "the 
man of the fear of God," from De, " of God," 
eagla, " fear," and an, " man ;" Fachtnan, " the 
just man," from faclitlinacht, "just," and an, 
"man;" Uanan, "the lamb-like man," from nan, 



OF IRELAND. 



179 



" a lamb," and an, " man 5" Cainneach, " Canice," 
"the just person," from cam, "just," and ueaeh, 
" any one," &c. 

From many of the ancient schools and monas- 
teries of Ireland, numbers of trained preachers 
and scholars went, every year, to foreign lands, 
some to announce the Gospel to those who 
were still pagans, and others to found churches, 
monasteries, colleges, and even universities, in 
the land of the stranger. In this work of men- 
tal culture all classes of the clergy, even the 
high prelates themselves, took an active part. 
The Annals of the Four Masters, in recording 
the death of a prelate, at this period, very often 
speak of him in the triple character of " Bishop, 
Abbot, and Writer;" " epscob. abb. agus scribh- 
noir ;" and they frequently add, " a vessel of 
sanctity and a select doctor." This state of 
things continued till about the end of the eighth 
century, when the black ships of the northern 
pirates, called the Danes, commenced to crowd 
into the harbours, bays, and large rivers of 
the island. In the native Annals these un- 
welcome visitors are called by the name of 
Ahnhnrig, from all, "wild, or foreign," muir y 
" the sea," and eagh y "a person of f that is, "wild 
men of the sea ;" Gallav, that is "foreigners," 
or, perhaps, " Gauls," as they had founded 
a settlement in Gaul, or France ; Lochlanig, 
from loch, " a lake," for they lived in their ships 



i8o 



THE ANCIENT CHURCHES 



principally; Northmanniv, "men of the north;" 
and Gentlidhlig, " Gentiles, or Pagans." Then 
commence our Annals to record, in words of 
sorrow, the plunder of churches, the burning of 
monasteries and their colleges, the preys of 
women, and the massacre of bishops, priests, 
and other ecclesiastics. Wide-spread desolation 
swept over the ancient schools, and many of the 
churches were left in ruins. It was only after a 
fearful struggle of two centuries that the men of 
Ireland, under the command of " Brien the 
Brave," struck a final blow at these foreigners 
on the bloody field of Clontarf. 

The staff of ecclesiastical officers connected 
with the ancient churches, especially the epis- 
copal or large churches, was very considerable. 
In the Annals of the Four Masters we find 
notices, in connexion with Clonmicnois alone, of 
bishops, bishops and abbots, cele-de (Culdee), deans, 
archdeacons, economists, lectors, chief lectors, 
priests, chief priests, great priests, priors, doctors, 
scribes, seniors, porters, and bell-ringers. The 
modern reader can understand all these names 
and the offices attached to them, with the ex- 
ception, perhaps, of the cele-de (pronounced 
kay-le-dhay), or Culdees, as they are called in 
English. The Irish word cele-de, . from which 
are formed the Latin Colideus and the English 
Caldee, means "the servant, or the vassal of God." 
The celidhe-de were, it appears, a strict religious 



OF IRELAND. 



order, consisting of priests and associated lay 
brothers. Their priests went, often, on special 
missions of preaching to different places, and had 
a high reputation for wisdom, learning, and 
sanctity. The Annals of the Four Masters thus 
record the death of one of the order at the year 
1200: — " Uaireirghe, son of Mulmora, a noble 
sage of the sages of Clonmicnoise, a man full of 
the love of God, and of every virtue, the head of 
the Culdees of Clonmicnoise, died on the tenth 
of March." Romance, allegory, and legend have 
not failed to throw their halo of wonder round the 
person and office of the ancient Culdee, as will 
appear by the following curious entry, at the 
year 806, supplied by the Four Masters from 
some old record or tradition : — " In this year the 
cele-de came over the sea with dry feet without 
a vessel; and a written roll was given him from 
heaven out of which he preached to the Irish ; 
and it was carried up again when the sermon was 
finished. This ecclesiastic used to go every day 
southwards across the sea, after finishing his 
preaching." The words of this extract, in the 
original Irish, would seem to indicate that they 
were borrowed from a very ancient source by the 
compilers of the Annals. Among the Irish 
manuscripts preserved in the Library of Trinity 
College, Dublin, the late Professor O'Curry dis- 
covered a small tract, containing the rules, or 
disciplinary regulations, of these " servants of 



182 



THE ANCIENT CHURCHES 



God." It consists of nine pages quarto ; and the 
authorship of it is ascribed to St. Maelruain, of 
Tallaght, in the county of Dublin, who died in 
the year 787. " It contains," says O'Curry, " a 
minute series of rules for the regulation of the 
lives of the celidhe-de, of their prayers, their 
preachings, their conversations, their confessions 
their communions, their absolutions, their fastings, 
their abstinences, their relaxations, their sleep, 
their celebrations of Mass, and so forth." 

This little tract, which, by the merest accident, 
was discovered by O'Curry, is one of the scat- 
tered fragments of the noble pile of manuscripts 
which Ireland once possessed, and which were 
the cherished productions of her ancient schools. 
It has some surviving companions, a few at 
home, and others scattered through the dif- 
ferent countries of Europe. But most of the 
once numerous family have perished. Those 
that remain, in the shape of biblical and litur- 
gical manuscripts, are some of the oldest and 
finest in the world. " I have often," says the 
late Dr. Todd, of Trinity College, " felt the 
greatest wonder, not only at the number and 
almost incredible antiquity of the Irish biblical 
manuscripts that still remain, but at the amazing 
ignorance that exists about them, and the small 
amount of interest they appear to excite. 
Whoever examines the annals of Ireland, will 
find them one mass of records of burnings and 



OF IRELAND. 



slaughters, battles, murders, and the destruction 
of monasteries. Books were not then spared. 
And when it is remembered that, at the period 
of the Reformation, church books were specially- 
sought out for destruction, we cannot but won- 
der that so many of them now remain." 

In treating of the ancient churches it would, 
perhaps, be ungracious to pass over in silence 
the name of a celebrated native architect of that 
period. This was the Goban Saor, whose name 
still lives in the traditions of the people, and 
who, in story and legend, is represented as a 
prodigy in the architectural and mechanical arts. 
Among other works ascribed to him, tradition 
states that he was the builder of the old church 
of Kilmacduagh, in the county of Galway, and 
of the round tower near it, which, like that of 
Pisa in Italy, exhibits the singular feature of 
leaning or declining many feet from the perpen- 
dicular. 

Goban Saor means (Goban, pronounced gub- 
bawn), " the artificer or mechanist," a title be- 
stowed on him by universal consent on account 
of his great preeminence as a working architect. 
There is scarcely a stone-mason or carpenter in 
Ireland of any standing, and with any preten- 
sions to a knowledge of professional lore, who 
cannot tell a dozen stories respecting the won- 
derful powers of Goban Saor. It is stated that, 
when a very young man, and in want of employ- 



184 THE ANCIENT CHURCHES 

ment, he came to a place where a large number 
of tradesmen were building a church for an old 
abbot. He applied to the overseer, or foreman, 
for employment on the work. The young man's 
statement of his accomplishments and of what 
he was able to do, appeared rather pompous to 
the surly old official. Still he consented to take 
him on trial for a few days. It was just about 
noon, the time of the day when the men went 
to dinner. The overseer was also retiring ; nor 
did he remember to invite the stranger to par- 
take of his hospitality. Goban asked him what 
might he himself be making (doing) while they 
were away. The foreman replied, in half irony, 
half indifference, that he may make a cat with 
tw r o tails if he liked (dean cat is dha earbaill, mas 
math leat <?), " Very well," said Goban. With the 
assistance of the working tools which lay scat- 
tered on the ground, he, at once, commenced 
to execute the apparently impossible task. It was 
in the hot season of summer, and the workmen 
were in no great hurry to return from their repast, 
and mid-day repose, or rest. Tradition does not 
say by what means Goban accomplished the feat, 
whether it was by secret springs or by a combi- 
nation of wheels, artfully introduced into the body 
of the automaton ; but when the men returned 
to their work, they beheld the strange sight of 
a cat with two tails jumping about on the 
grounds. As the old foreman could not resist 



OF IRELAND. 



I8 5 



the evidence of his eyes in the matter, he ascribed 
the whole thing to magic. The abbot himself 
was called to behold the wonder. After admir- 
ing it for some time, he called the young artist 
to his presence. The words of this interview are 
not recorded ; but Goban was invited by him 
into the monastery, where refreshments were 
immediately provided for the stranger, and a 
promise given him that while he was employed 
on these works every just consideration should 
be extended to him. Before the church and 
other edifices in connection with it were finished, 
Goban was universally acknowledged to be the 
most clever of his fellow-workmen, and pre- 
eminently the master of all in everything that 
required either creative genius or delicate hand- 
ling. In reference to a person of great mechani- 
cal abilities, there is still in Ireland often used 
the expression, that " he would make a cat with 
two tails which would jump over a house, like 
the Goban Saor." 

Another story says that Goban was, at one 
time, engaged to build a grand residence for a 
local chief, or petty king, in a remote part of the 
country. When the work was approaching com- 
pletion, and fully displaying its beautiful pro- 
portions, this savage chief was so enchanted with 
it, that he conceived the horrid idea of putting 
the architect to death, to prevent any other man 
in the land from ever possessing a similar resi- 



1 86 THE ANCIENT CHURCHES 



dence. When Goban was a young man, leaving 
home to seek his fortune in the world, his clever 
mother, while giving her consent and her bless- 
ing, among other admonitions, advised him, 
wherever he should go, to make for himself friends 
among the women. His genius and fine natural 
qualities, coupled with the advice thus imparted, 
made him a great favourite in that quarter. It 
was very useful to him now. A female of the 
family, who by some means had discovered the 
intentions of the chief, informed him of the 
danger, and advised him to escape from it with 
all the tact and expedition he could command. 
In a day or two the chief went to inspect the 
work, and inquired of the architect how soon he 
expected to have it finished. This inquiry was 
suggestive of serious thought, and no small 
apprehension. Goban, without exhibiting any 
emotion, said that it was now fast approaching 
completion, and that it only wanted a few finish- 
ing touches, for which it would be necessary for 
him to go to his own home to bring with him a 
certain instrument, which was specially designed 
for effecting such improvement. The chief would 
not listen to any proposition for his departure. 
He said that he would send his own son, a youth 
of about twenty years old, with two servants, on 
horses, to bring the instrument. Goban had to 
submit. His resources, however, did not fail him. 
When the youth, who probably knew nothing of 



OF IRELAND. 



18/ 



the intentions of the cruel father, was brought 
to Goban, to obtain from him the name of this 
engine, or tool, the architect told him, in the 
presence of the chief, that it was called " the 
crooked and the straight," an cam is an direacli ; 
that the members of his family were well ac- 
quainted with these things, and that his daughter- 
in-law, especially, knew where to find it. 

Goban's residence was situated at a consider- 
able distance, in the territories of another petty 
king. The youth and his attendants, on arriv- 
ing at the place, delivered their message. They 
were received with kindness and hospitality. 
The name of the strange tool, however, excited 
some suspicion. In the architect's entire collec- 
tion there was no such thing as the cam is an 
direachy the crooked and the straight, and the 
daughter-in-law, who was a sharp clever woman, 
at once suspected that there was some mystery 
in that strange name. She was not satisfied 
with the reasons they gave why Goban himself 
had not come for it, and why he had not visited 
his home, at all, for so long a time. After some 
consultation by the family, it was decided that 
the two attendants would be permitted to 
return to the chief for further explanations, but 
that his son should be retained as hostage, till 
inquiry should be made respecting the circum- 
stances and the safety of Goban. The result 
was, that not only was the architect permitted to 



1 88 THE ANCIENT CHURCHES OF IRELAND. 

return safe from the territory of his would-be 
murderer, but that he was also enabled to bring 
with him the cattle, corn, and even the orna- 
ments of gold which he was to receive as payment 
for the execution of the work. 

The stories in circulation about this celebrated 
mechanist would fill a volume. Of these some 
are the written productions of bardic chroniclers, 
others are handed down solely by oral tradition. 
In them, even, is preserved the memory of his 
father Traigh Tuirbi, and of his wonderful feats, 
also, as a wielder of the hatchet, and an architect. 
The legend may be silly, extravagant, and highly 
incredible in itself, but its presence is generally 
indicative of some remarkable qualities in the 
character or person whom it follows. It follows 
Goban Saor, and he was one of the long line of 
clever artificers who built the ancient churches 
of Ireland, and, also, erected those tall, graceful, 
and solid Round Towers which bear upon them 
the marks of great age, and which, in valley, 
island, and on hill-side, are now found standing, 
in single and mystic loneliness, near a ruin 
which was once a church, or near a church 
which is only the distant successor of the original 
sacred structure. 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 

The origin and use of the Towers hitherto unknown. 
— Form, Masonry, and Architectural Features of 
the Round Towers — Probable number of the Round 
Tow t ers in Ireland.— Found near ancient Churches. 
— Their great age — Various Theories respecting 
them. — The Name of the Round Tower in Irish, and 

THE LIGHT IT THROWS ON THE SUBJECT. — It MEANS A 

Reed-house — They were ancient Baptisteries. — 
Description of the ancient Christian Baptisteries 
of the early christians in other countries by 
writers ancient and modern. — many features of 
the Round Towers prove that they were of the 
same class.— The Round Tower of Brechin in 
Scotland. — The Round Tower of Keneigh in the 
County of Cork. — In the early ages Baptism was 
performed by immersion. — easter and pentecost 
the principal periods for solemn baptisms — the 
lowest compartment of the Round Tower, the place 
for baptism, has no light, or window.— the meaning 
of the four windows facing the cardinal points. — 
The ancient Baptisteries called Houses of Illumi- 
nation. — Tradition couples fire or light with 
the Round Towers. — White lime-stone not used in 
the walls of the Towers. — The Reed the model of the 
Round Tower. — Peculiar features of the reed. — 
The Round Tower generally single. — Two in a few 
places. — Stumps of Towers. — Miniature Towers — 
Architecture of the Towers resembles that of the 
old Churches. — The Round Tower, or Reed-house 
an emblematic structure. — a very ancient manu- 
SCRIPT Baptismal Ritual of Ireland throws light on 
the Reed-house.— The Round Tower a proof of 
early Christian Civilization, and of an early 
connection with the east. 

Is it not a shame and a wonder that the true 
idea of the origin and use of the Round Towers 
of Ireland, should have been buried in the 
darkness of, perhaps, a thousand years ? Yet it 



THE ROUND TOWERS 



is so. These objects, so striking and remarkable, 
have been made the subject of many Essays, 
and of, almost, innumerable discussions. Still, 
no published theory respecting them has been 
accepted, as true or as satisfactory, by public 
opinion. The latest distinguished writer on 
Irish history says, that " probably the question 
of their origin and of their use will for ever remain 
in obscurity." In the face of such discourage- 
ment and failure, it requires no slight energy to 
approach the subject now with a hope of success. 

It will not be out of place here to describe 
briefly the general features, form, and charac- 
teristics of these ancient structures. They are 
round, or circular, stone edifices, varying in 
height from fifty, to one hundred and thirty, or 
forty feet, and in circumference from forty, 
to sixty, or more, feet at the base. They are 
tapering, or slightly lessening in size, from the 
foundation upwards ; and they terminate at the 
top in a conical head, varying from ten to fifteen, 
or perhaps twenty, feet high. This cap or top 
sometimes exhibits a projection in a ring or 
cornice, at the point where it springs from the 
body of the tower, and it is supposed that it 
terminated in a stone cross. At the base, the 
tower, also, usually projects outwards, in the 
form of two or three steps, in so many courses 
of circular masonry. In many cases, especially 
where there is not a solid rock foundation, these 



OF IRELAND. 



I 9 I 



are only partially visible above the soil. The 
wall at the base, is never less than three feet 
thick, and is sometimes even five feet, when 
required by the height and massiveness of the 
superstructure. The body of the tower is 
divided into stories, or landings, varying from 
four to eight in number, according to the height 
of the tower ; and the distance between each of 
the stories is about twelve feet. Each of the stories 
is lighted by an opening, or window, indiffer- 
ently placed east, west, north, or south ; but the 
upper story,under the conical head, is generally 
lighted by fourwindows facing the cardinal points. 
The lowest story, at, or under, the doorway, has 
no window or aperture whatever for the trans- 
mission of light. The windows in the stories are 
generally narrow and small, and only one in 
each ; while, in a few instances, in the upper- 
most story, there are two or three openings or 
windows, in addition to those facing the cardinal 
points. The character of the door is very pecu- 
liar. In some instances it is placed in the wall, 
only five or six feet from the ground, and then 
varies in elevation till it reaches twenty-four, or 
perhaps, thirty feet, from the foundation of the 
building. Its average height, however, is, per- 
haps, about twelve or thirteen feet ; and, in some 
instances, there is over it an aperture, or window, 
by its largeness, resembling a second door. The 
doorways are generally small, and hanging in 



ig2 



THE ROUND TOWERS 



from the perpendicular. The heads of them are 
sometimes square, being formed by a stone lintel, 
sometimes semicircular, formed by an arch, or 
hollowed stone, and sometimes angular, being 
formed of two massive stones, hanging in from 
the perpendicular sides, and meeting at the apex. 
The tops of the windows present the same varied 
features. The masonry of the tow T ers resembles 
that of the ancient churches, but is more solid 
and substantial. There is in them the same 
irregular laying of the stones in the style called 
Cyclopean, and also the grouting, or packing of 
mortar, in the centre of the walls. The door- 
ways seldom exhibit any architectural decora- 
tions ; but there is sometimes on the lintel, or 
over the arch, an engraved cross, or a figure of 
the crucifixion ; and in some cases a cornice runs 
along the outer edges. The round tower of 
Brechin in Scotland, has on it some figures or 
sacred emblems externally, which shall be noticed 
hereafter. Immediately under the conical head 
of the Round Tower of Devenish Island, in the 
county of Fermanagh, is a richly-sculptured 
cornice, in which are introduced four human 
heads, one facing each of the cardinal points. 

The round tower is invariably found standing 
near an old church, or the ruins of an old church, 
or in a place where an ancient church is known 
to have existed. 

The elevated door was reached by a flight of 



OF IRELAND. 



193 



steps, or a ladder from the outside ; and the stories 
were reached by a ladder erected inside from one 
to the other. In them the different landings 
were formed of wooden flooring, for the joists or 
supports of which there were either off-sets, or 
resting-places, made in the construction of the 
walls. In many of the towers the stories are 
marked externally by set-offs. They are indi- 
cated in the one at Ardmore by bands or belts. 
The ancient stone steps to the door, having, 
apparently, in the lapse of ages, undergone 
many repairs and restorations, are still found 
in connexion with the perfect round tower of 
Clondalkin, near Dublin. They wind round, 
and close to, the outer base, resting on a support 
of stone and mortar rubble- work, and they spring 
from a point on the south side which, by an easy 
ascent, leads to the elevated door on the east. 
The solidity of the materials and of the work- 
manship in the walls of the towers has been well 
tested and proved by the frosts, heats, storms, 
and rains of many hundred years. In most of 
them, however, the sharp conical head has been 
injured or destroyed, more, probably, by the 
effects of lightning than any other cause. It is 
only in very few specimens that this peculiar 
cap is perfect ; but they all possessed it at one 
time. Possibly, not a few owe its disappearance 
or destruction, to Vandal ignorance, or vulgar 
utility, as in many cases it might have been 

K 



194 



THE ROUND TOWERS 



removed to make the top more open for trans- 
mitting the sound of a bell Something of this 
kind has occurred to the round tower of Cloyne. 
About the year 1683 a bell was hung in it The 
top was then open ; but it is not ascertained 
whether that was the result of design or of acci- 
dent. It was subsequently struck by lightning 
and the bell broken. For the protection of the 
new bell, its successor, ten feet of masonry were 
added to the top of the tower. This part was 
made to terminate in a castellated form, instead 
of the ancient conical head, The inner walls of 
the top of the tower of Ardmore have been 
scooped out, or cut away, to permit the swinging 
of a bell, though the conical head has been spared. 

There were, probably, in Ireland, at one time, 
more than one hundred of these curious structures, 
of which seventy or eighty now remain in various 
stages of preservation and dilapidation. The 
Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge 
professed to have traced out the existence of 
one hundred and eighteen of them. Their list, 
which included fallen towers as well as those 
standing, was published in the year 1845, an d is, 
perhaps, as accurate as it could be in circum- 
stances of the kind. Possibly, it was somewhat 
in excess of the real number. In many of the 
towers the masonry and materials are of a very 
superior and durable quality. All, however, were 
of the same form, or model, that is, rotund, 



OF IRELAND. 



195 



tapering to the top, and terminating in a conical 
head. 

It must be admitted that, in not a few in- 
stances, human hands have assisted the elements 
in obliterating all vestiges of many Round Towers. 
This was the case with respect to the Round 
Tower of Rosscarbery, of which not a trace now 
remains, and, also, with regard to the Round 
Tower which stood near the church of Saint 
Finbarr, in the city of Cork. In the year 
1720, a violent storm threw down the Round 
Tower of Brigowne, near Mitchelstown, leaving 
standing of it only a fragment or stump about 
fifteen feet high from the base. In that state it 
continued till about fifty years ago, when this 
fragment was taken down, and the stones used 
in the erection of a new glebe-house or parson- 
age, in its immediate neighbourhood. The 
key-stone or lintel over the door, which had on 
it an inscribed cross, the workmen refused to 
take away ; and that is either buried in the 
adjoining cemetery, or, perhaps, forms there 
now the foot-stone of an unknown grave. 

Saint Finneachan, or Finnchu, was, at an 
early period, bishop and abbot of Brigowne. 
His staff or crozier was kept there for ages as a 
venerable relic, and of himself there is in the 
ancient book of Lismore a curious biography, 
replete, according to the taste of the age in 
which it was written, with legends, wonders, and 



196 THE ROUND TOWERS 

supernatural incidents. Finncu means the " fair 
hero or warrior/' a name which, probably, he 
obtained because, as this record of his life states, 
he had often, even on the battle-field, personally- 
assisted his friends, in the cause of right against 
might. The site of his monastery was called 
Bruighe-amhane, which means the field or farm 
of the river. Though the Round Tower and mo- 
nastery have disappeared, the ruins of the old 
church are still standing there, and the memory 
of Finneachan himself lives distinct and undy- 
ing in the local traditions of the people, 

The age of the towers is truly great. In even 
the twelfth century, at the period of the English 
invasion, legend and story had gathered round 
them, on account of their great antiquity. In 
recording the physical wonders of Ireland, an 
English priest, Sylvester Gerald Barry (Giraldus 
Cambrensis), who had come with King John to 
this country, says that the fishermen of Lough 
Neagh, at certain* times, saw the submerged 
round towers of past ages shining at the bottom 
of that lake. Or, as the poet Moore has ren- 
dered it : — 

On Lough Neagh's bank as the fisherman strays, 

When the clear cold eve's declining, 
lie sees the round towers of other days 

In the wave beneath him shining. 

Now, what was the use or origin of these 



OF IRELAND. 



197 



singular structures ? By many they have been 
regarded as works erected under the reign of 
Druidism, and, in some way connected with the 
rites and ceremonies of that mysterious system. 
Some, with Valiancy, Dr. Lanigan, O'Brien, 
Dalton, Beaufort, and Moore, believed that they 
were houses, or temples, for the Pagan fire-wor- 
ship, or for the performance of some ceremonies 
connected with the old Druidical religion. 
Others, with Dr. O'Connor, thought that they 
were used by the Druids as observatories for 
astronomical purposes. Others have said that 
they were high places used for proclaiming, by 
sound or light, or both, the Druidical festivals ; 
and others, with Windele and Father Horgan, 
maintained that they were, in Pagan times, places 
of sepulture, or mausoleums for distinguished 
personages. All these theories are founded on 
conjecture, or on some facts or circumstances 
from which, undoubtedly, no convincing proof can 
be deduced. 

There is another large host of writers and anti- 
quaries who claimforthe Round Towersa Christian 
origin, and say that they were erected for some 
purpose in connexion with the rites and practices 
of the Christian religion. On the particular pur- 
pose or object, however, for which they were 
erected, these writers are not agreed. Some say 
they were built by the Danes ; but for what use 



THE ROUND TOWERS 



they know not. Others say that they were 
used by the early anchorites as penitential 
stations. Others assert that they were used as 
beacons, or bell-towers, in connexion with ancient 
churches. Lastly, Dr. Petrie, whose essay on 
the subject obtained a prize and gold medal 
from the Royal Irish Academy, maintained that 
they were intended to serve as belfries and also 
as keeps, or places of strength, in which the 
sacred utensils, books, relics, and other valuables 
of the adjoining church were preserved, and into 
which the ecclesiastics to whom they belonged 
could retire for security, in cases of sudden pre- 
datory attacks. 

It would be an almost endless task to examine 
the grounds for these various theories, with a 
view to their refutation. It is only the true 
theory that can accomplish the work, and, if 
that can be discovered, it will demolish all these 
at one stroke. But with respect to Dr. Petrie's 
theory, one would imagine that a slight and 
narrow tower, one hundred, or one hundred and 
thirty, feet high, would be a poor place to fly to 
with one's treasures, when a few stones taken 
out of the foundation w T ith a crow-bar would 
soon bring the whole structure crashing to the 
ground. That elevation, too, would not be the 
best suited for the ringing of a bell, or the 
transmission of its sound, especially when we 
know how small were the bells of early times, 



OF IRELAND. 



199 



compared with those in use at present. Possibly, 
to the circumstance of their never having pos- 
sessed any treasure, is mainly due the preserva- 
tion of so many of the Round Towers to this 
day. 

Perhaps, according to our motto, Antiquam 
exquirite matrem } — " Search out the ancient 
mother" — the name of the Round Tower in the 
Irish language may throw some light on its use 
and origin. In the Irish Annals and old 
Chronicles we find the names, Cloictheach y and 
Cloigtheach applied to the Round Towers and to 
other structures. Cloiciheach means " the house 
of stone/' and cloigtheach, "the house of the 
bell," or bellfry. But the universal popular 
name of the Round Tower in Munster,Connaught, 
and other Irish-speaking parts of Ireland is 
cuilceach, or culctheach. This name is formed 
from cuilc> " a reed," and iheach, " a house," that 
is, the reed-house, or reed-shaped structure. 
Thus, the people have always said, with constant 
unerring accuracy, when speaking of these struc- 
tures, cuilceach Cluina,the Round Tower of Cloyne; 
cuilceach Colmain, the Round Tower of Colman, 
(the patron saint) ; cuilceach Deaglain, the Round 
Tower of Deaglan (of Ardmore), and so on. 
Some have said that cuilceach is a mere corrup- 
tion of cloigtheach, " the bell-house." It is no 
such thing. It is the real, true name of the 
Round Tower in Irish, and is pronounced by the 



20O THE ROUND TOWERS 



people with unmistakable accuracy. There is 
growing in the bogs and rivers of Ireland a large 
kind of cuilCy or reed, with a conical head, which? 
in form and shape, resembles the lines of the 
Round Tower, and which, I am sure, was originally 
taken as the model for it, Any one looking at 
the perfect Round Tower of Ratoo in Kerry, and 
at the reeds growing in the water near it, must 
be, at once, struck by the great resemblance in 
shape which they bear to one another. 

But what meaning, or mystery, is there in the 
reed, which it could communicate to the reed- 
house, or the round tower ? The reed is an 
emblem of Saint John the Baptist, and, 
naturally, an emblem, or indication, of the water 
by which it is produced. Our Saviour in' the 
Gospel compares Saint John to a reed shaken 
by the wind. "What went you out into the 
desert to see ? A reed shaken by the wind ?" 
Or, as it is in the Irish, " Cuilc luasgah leis an 
ngaoith ?" Luke vii. 24. This points to the Round 
Towers as being of that class of structures called 
Baptisteries, which, in the early ages of Chris- 
tianity, were attached to the Episcopal Churches, 
and in which adults of both sexes, as well as 
young persons, were baptised by immersion, and 
received, immediately after, the sacrament of 
confirmation from the hands of the bishop. 
There are various facts and circumstances, to be 
stated hereafter, which I think will place this 



OF IRELAND. 



201 



matter beyond all doubt As a preparation for 
the proof, however, it will be useful to reproduce 
here what the learned French writer, Bergier, 
says of these ancient Baptisteries in his Ency- 
clopaedia of Theology, at Article Baptistere. 

" The early Christians, as we are told by Saint 
Justin, Martyr, and by Tertullian, had no other 
baptisteries than the streams, the rivers, lakes, 
or the sea, near which they happened to be, or 
to reside, and as, at times, persecution did not 
permit them to baptize by day, they went there 
for the purpose by night, and they sometimes 
baptized in private houses. But when the 
Christian religion was embraced and protected 
by the emperors, besides the churches, particular 
structures were erected specially for administer- 
ing baptism in them, and these were called 
baptisteries. Some authors have believed that 
these baptisteries were placed within the 
entrance or body of the church, as are our 
baptismal fonts at present. This is a mistake. 
• The baptisteries were edifices placed altogether 
outside the churches, and standing at some dis- 
tance from their external walls. The words of 
St. Paulinus, of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, and of 
St. Augustin, leave no room for doubt on this 
subject. These baptisteries continued to be 
separated from the churches to the end of the 
sixth century, at which time baptismal fonts 
commenced to be placed in the inner entrance 

K 2 



202 THE ROUND TOWERS 



to the church, such as that in which Clovis re- 
ceived baptism from the hand of St. Remis. 
This usage, afterwards, became general, except 
with respect to some churches which continued 
to retain the ancient practice, such as the church 
of Florence, and the Episcopal churches of 
Tuscany, the Metropolitan Church of Ravenna, 
and the Church of St. John of Latteran, at 
Rome. 

" These edifices were of very large dimen- 
sions, considering that early period ; and bap- 
tism was administered in them by immersion, or 
by dipping the whole body in the water ; and, 
except in cases of necessity, it was only at 
the two most solemn festivals of the year, that 
is, at Easter and at Pentecost, that such baptism 
was administered. The immense number of 
persons who presented themselves for baptism on 
these occasions, and the necessity of baptizing 
females separately from the males, rendered it 
necessary to have these places large. In them 
even altars and other matters were required to 
administer the sacraments of Confirmation and 
of the Eucharist to the neophytes immediately 
after their baptism. These baptisteries had 
different names, such as Piscina, and also Houses 
of Illumination, &c, &c, all referring to the 
graces which were received through the sacra- 
ments there administered." 

u We find very little in the writings of the 



OF IRELAND. 



203 



ancients relative to the form and ornaments of 
these baptisteries. The following is what Fleury 
has collected on the subject from the writings of 
St. Athanatius, of Gregory of Tours, and of 
others : — ' The baptistery was generally a round 
building, in which it was necessary to descend, 
or go down, a few steps to reach the water-font, 
or bath. The baptistery was ornamented with 
pictures or engravings suitable to the sacrament, 
and provided with vessels of gold and silver to 
contain the holy oils, and also to pour out the 
water. These had often on them the figure of 
a lamb, or of a hind, to represent the lamb in 
whose blood we are purified, and the desire of 
the souls who sought God, like the hind that 
panteth for the waters. There was on them the 
figure or image of St. John the Baptist, and also 
a suspended dove of gold or silver, to represent 
the history of the baptism of Jesus Christ, and 
the virtue of the Holy Ghost descending on the 
baptismal water.' So far the words of Fleury 
in his work ' On the Manners of the Early Chris- 
tians (Mceurs des anciens Chretiens)! " Bergier then 
continues : — " At first the baptisteries were only 
in the episcopal cities or towns ; and from this it 
follows that, even at the present day, the Ambro- 
sian rite does not permit the blessing of the fonts, 
on the eves of Easter and Pentecost, to be per- 
formed anywhere but in the metropolitan church, 
from which the parochial churches are to take 



204 



THE ROUND TOWERS 



the water thus blessed, to mix it with the water 
used in them for baptism. In the church of 
Meaux it is the custom for the priests of the 
country to come in, and assist in baptizing the 
children, from Holy Saturday to the Saturday 
following, in the fonts of the cathedral church." 

One or two extracts from an English London 
Cyclopaedia on this subject of the ancient bap- 
tisteries, may be of some service. It says : — 
" These baptisteries generally stand near the 
churches to which they belong: the form is, for the 
most part, hexagonal, although many are circular. 
The baptistery of Florence, which is octangular, 
stands opposite to the principal entrance of the 
cathedral, and in the centre of it stood a very fine 
octagonal basin. The baptistery of Pisa is cir- 
cular. The building is raised on three steps, and 
surmounted with a dome in the shape of a pear, 
and on it is placed a statue of St. John. The 
city of Ravenna, and the episcopal cities of 
Tuscany, have also their baptisteries. The bap- 
tismal font, or basin, was always placed in the 
building. At the close of the sixth century, the 
baptismal fonts belonging to the baptisteries 
began to be placed in the churches.'' — Penny 
Cyclopcedia. 

Are there any features in the Irish Round 
Towers to correspond with the characteristics of 
the ancient baptisteries as described in these 
extracts ? There are many ; and every circum- 



OF IRELAND. 



205 



stance connected with them can be easily ex- 
plained by supposing that they are buildings of 
this class. In the first place, they are found 
near the old Episcopal Churches, where the 
bishop was present to administer the sacra- 
ment of confirmation, which, in the early ages of 
Christianity, was always received immediately 
after baptism. This is the practice in the East- 
ern, or Greek, Church to the present day. In 
the second place, the Round Towers, in many 
instances, exhibit the figures and emblems pecu- 
liar to the ancient baptisteries. 

Firstly, they are found near the Episcopal 
churches of the early ages. Among these are to 
be included the churches of monasteries governed 
by mitred abbots, who, in the early periods of 
Christianity in Ireland, performed Episcopal 
functions for the people in their immediate neigh- 
bourhood. In many instances a small diocese 
was attached to a monastery thus circumstanced. 
The Irish Annals, especially those of the Four 
Masters, make frequent mention of the mitred 
abbot, or as they call him, "bishop and abbot," 
in recording his death and his virtues, or some 
other important circumstance connected with 
him. By the side of his church stood the ancient 
Round Tower, or the reed-house ; and there, in 
many instances, it stands to-day, when the 
church and the monastery have totally disap- 
peared. Those who received the waters of 



206 



THE ROUND TOWERS 



regeneration in' the lower compartment of that 
baptistery, were immediately afterwards con- 
firmed by the bishop-abbot, and they were also 
admitted to holy communion. This sufficiently 
accounts for the fact, hitherto unexplained, of 
the Round Tower being found near certain 
churches, while near others no trace of it has 
ever been seen. 

Secondly, the Irish Round Tower has, in form, 
site, and emblem, the peculiarities of the ancient 
baptisteries. These were round, high, and large, 
and so is the Round Tower. They were generally 
placed opposite to the principal entrance to the 
church, and so was the Round Tower. As we 
have already seen, the door in our ancient 
churches was always placed in the western gable ; 
and in that direction, at a little distance away, 
stands the aalceach, or reed-house, with its 
elevated door generally facing the door of the 
church. In some instances it is found a little to 
the right or to the left of the western gable of 
the present church standing near it ; but, per- 
haps, that present church is only a successor of 
the original sacred structure which stood more 
directly opposite to its reed-house. The door of 
the ancient church was always in the western 
gable, and the Round Tower was invariably in 
that direction. Where the door of the Round 
Tower deviates, to the right or to the left, from 
due east, it is to be inferred that the west end of 



OF IRELAND, 



20/ 



its early church was a little to the right or to the 
left of it ; for the door of the tower always looked 
towards the door of the church. 

The emblems will fully establish our theory. 
In the description of the ancient Baptis- 
teries it is stated that they generally had an 
emblem, a figure, or image, of Saint John the 
Baptist. The Irish Round Tower is, in itself, 
an emblem of him. In the Gospel, he is com- 
pared to the " reed shaken by the wind," from 
the circumstance, perhaps, of his having appeared 
among the reeds, when baptizing the people in 
the waters of the Jordan. The Round Tower is, 
in the language of the country, called the reed- 
house, and, in form and shape, resembles the 
large reed that grows in the lakes and rivers of 
Ireland. Here, then, in every case is an emblem 
of the Saint, as also of the water. 

But this is not all. We find in the description 
of the ancient baptisteries that they had on them 
often an image of Saint John the Baptist, and also 
of a lamb. These identical figures are found on 
one of the Round Towers. In Scotland, there 
are two Round Towers in exact shape and form 
like those of Ireland. One stands near the old 
Episcopal Church of Brechin, the other near the 
old Episcopal Church of Abernethy. These were 
manifestly erected by the Irish ecclesiastics who 
followed their countrymen, Fearghus Mor and 
his brothers, into Scotland, when Fearghus was 



208 



THE ROUND TOWERS 



elected and crowned king of that country about 
the year 500. It was he and his followers who, 
for this occasion, carried the famous Lia-fail, or 
" Stone of Destiny," more properly, the " Stone 
of the King," with them, from Ireland, to serve 
at his coronation. On the Round Tower of 
Brechin is the figure of Saint John the Baptist, 
holding a lamb in his arms, and a cup in his 
hand. Ledwich, in his work on Irish Antiquities, 
gives a good lithograph illustration of the door- 
way of this tower with these figures on the 
wall. The meaning of these figures is to convey 
a representation of the baptism of Jesus Christ 
by St. John in the Jordan, as it is thus recorded 
in the Gospel : — " These things were done in 
Bethania beyond the Jordan, where John was 
baptizing. The next day John saw Jesus 
coming to him, and he saith : Behold the Lamb 
of God, behold Him who taketh away the sin of 
the world." — John i. 28, 29. 

St. Luke adds, that when Jesus was baptized 
by John, the Holy Ghost descended on him as 
he was coming out of the water. The figures on 
Brechin Round Tower, being an illustration, or 
representation, of the baptism of Jesus Christ, 
indicate that this structure was a place for bap- 
tism, too. But what means the cup in the hand 
of St. John ? It is the vessel with which the 
water was poured on the head, or body, of the 
person to be baptized ; a circumstance which 



OF IRELAND. 



209 



tells us that in these reed-houses, or baptisteries, 
baptism was sometimes performed by infusion, 
that is, by pouring the water on the body, as 
well as by immersion, that is, by dipping the 
whole body in the water. It depended, perhaps, 
much on the health, or convenience, of the 
person, as to what way he was to receive baptism, 
whether by immersion or infusion. 

These figures place the object for which the 
Round Towers were erected beyond all doubt. 
Here Ledwich had in his hands the silken clue 
to the origin and use of that tower at Brechin, if 
he had been sufficiently acquainted with the 
ecclesiastical history of the early ages of Chris- 
tianity. But, in his ardour for polemical warfare, 
Ledwich was always looking out for horrors and 
monsters in that direction. 

Another distinctive feature, peculiar to the 
ancient baptisteries, is found in one of the Round 
Towers of Ireland. In the description of the old 
baptismal structures, both in the Eastern and 
Western Churches, it is stated that some of them 
were of an hexagonal form, and others octangu- 
lar, and that the bason, or font, in them was 
often octangular, too. Six and eight were mystic 
numbers. The one was emblematical of the 
manifold gifts of the Holy Ghost ; the other of 
the eight Beatitudes. These emblematical num- 
bers are still found on many of the fonts of 
ancient churches in various countries. And, as if 



210 



THE ROUND TOWERS 



in a special manner, to indicate the class of 
buildings to which it belongs, a lonely Round 
Tower, in the county of Cork, has on its external 
surface, in its six sides and six angles, the old 
mystic number of the ancient baptisteries. The 
first story of the Round Tower of Keneigh, near 
Bandon, is of the hexagonal form, while the rest 
of the structure from that to the summit is round. 
The first story, or lower compartment, was 
that which contained within it the bason or 
baptismal font ; and here it has on it the old 
emblem of the manifold gifts of the Holy 
Ghost, in allusion to the descent of the Holy 
Ghost on Jesus, as he came out of the water. 
Keneigh, at an early age, had its monastery, and, 
as it is stated also, its " bishop and abbot," though 
now almost every vestige of the monastery has 
disappeared, leaving the round tower there in 
real mystic loneliness. The name Keneigh, or 
Kinneigh, would seem to be formed from cinn, 
"heads," and eigk> "horses ;" as the high rocky 
eminences around it seem to resemble the heads 
of horses. The history of Keneigh, of its monas- 
tery, abbots, and Round Tower, has almost passed 
into the dark night of oblivion. Its first abbot 
and founder is said to have been Mocoemoge, 
or Mocolmoge, by whom also, in all probability, 
was erected the reed-house or Round Tower, 
built up in the mystic hexagonal form, to the 
height of sixteen feet from the foundation, the 



OF IRELAND. 



211 



tower itself being seventy-five feet high, and 
sixty-five feet in circumference at the base. It 
was much- higher at one time, as the conical 
head and a part of the uppermost shaft are 
wanting, having, probably, been destroyed by 
the lightning and rains of , ages. In the Annals 
of the Four Masters, there is one short notice of 
this place at the year 850, where it is said that 
" Forbhasach, son of Maeluidhir, abbot of the 
Large Church of Cinnech, died." Over the rest 
of its subsequent history reigns an unbroken 
silence. Many religious traditions and usages, 
however, prevail around the place, owing, doubt- 
less, to its ancient character. 

The hexagonal form of this Keneigh Tower, or 
" reed-house," is most important in determining 
the class of buildings to which it belongs. The 
Cyclopaedia, already quoted, says that the ancient 
baptisteries of other countries were for the most 
part hexagonal and round. Here we have these 
characteristics; and if the hexagonal form is not 
found in any of the other towers, it was owing, 
perhaps, to the difficulty of building up such high 
and narrow structures in that shape. Even the 
one of Keneigh is not carried up higher than the 
first story in that form. Roundness was equally 
peculiar to the ancient baptisteries, and, probably, 
that feature was universally borrowed from the 
reed, the acknowledged emblem of St. John the 
Baptist 



212 



THE ROUND TOWERS 



Keneigh Tower has, also,' another feature 
worth remarking. It is the original floor, at 
the door, over the lowest compartment, which 
contained the baptismal font. In most other 
towers this is wanting, as, very likely, it consisted 
of timber or boards resting on joists and covering 
the whole space, having, however, a hole or open- 
ing in it to allow an entrance to the compartment 
below. In the Keneigh tow r er this floor consists 
of large flag-stones inserted in the side- walls, and 
extending from them so far as to cover the whole 
space over the lowest compartment, leaving, how- I 
ever, a hole, or opening, in the centre of the floor, 
about three feet in diameter. That was the 
entrance to the underneath apartment, the place 
for baptism. These flag-stones extending from 
the side-walls are so nicely cut and fitted as to 
form a level and even floor. For ages, even to the 
lowest compartment, the tower was the habitation 
of rock pigeons ; but as lately a bell was placed 
in it, these birds have taken their departure. 

This original floor, and the opening in it, supply 
an additional proof of the accuracy of the present 
theory. It shows that the under compartment 
was one of importance, and that there should be 
easy access to it, while it was to be wholly and 
absolutely secluded and private. Not an accent 
could be heard outside from that apartment, nor 
a ray of light seen. 

Keneigh is now lonely and desolate ; but one 



OF IRELAND. 



213 



can, in imagination, carry himself back to a scene 
which presented itself there when the symbolical 
reed-house was used for its original purpose. He 
can imagine the time to be Easter, one of the 
great festivals of the year at which the solemn 
public baptisms were performed in the early ages 
of Christianity. The foundation of the old church 
in the grave-yard, still indicated by a broken and 
rugged elevation of the ground, shows that the 
reed-house, or Round Tower, stood, as usual, at a 
short distance from its western gable, in which 
was the entrance or doorway. A fragment of 
this gable was standing about thirty years ago, 
when it was pulled down, and the stones used in 
the construction of a new glebe-house. The door 
of the tower is fourteen feet from the ground, 
and faced the door of the church. In some 
towers the door is as low as five feet from the 
foundation, while in very few it rises above 
twenty feet, making the average height, perhaps, 
about eleven or twelve feet. 

Here at Keneigh are great multitudes of people 
assembled for this solemn occasion. The priests, 
too, are there in large numbers. Some of them 
have come there in company with their people 
from distant parts of the country : others belonged 
to the monastery of the bishop-abbot. An easy 
flight of stone, or wooden, steps, or stairs, leads 
from the ground to the door of the reed-house, 
and up this passage are seen persons ascending, 



214 



THE ROUND TOWERS 



and then, from the landing at the doorway, de- 
scending into the lower compartment of the 
building through that opening found there to this 
day. They are now inside that hexagon-shaped 
compartment, and, in a short time, they are seen 
descending to the outer ground again, and proceed- 
ing to the church where the mitred abbot is, in his 
episcopal robes, ready to administer to them the 
sacrament of Confirmation. Who are these that 
are going up into the reed-house, and coming back 
in that manner again ? They are those who, up to 
this time, have been designated by the name of 
Catechumens, that is, persons placed under a course 
of instruction preparatory to baptism. Hitherto 
they were permitted only to listen to sermons and 
holy reading, but never to be present at the per- 
formance of the mysteries of the altar. In that 
compartment of the tower which they have entered 
there are lights burning, and there stands, also, 
the large font of water which has received the 
solemn blessing prescribed by the Church. In 
that font they have received the trine immersion, 
and been baptised in the name of the Father, 
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Some, 
perhaps, in consequence of delicate health, have 
received the sacrament by infusion or aspersion, 
that is, by pouring or sprinkling the w T ater on 
their heads or bodies. They are now in the 
church, receiving confirmation from the hands of 
the bishop, and, after that, they are to be imme- 



OF IRELAND. 



215 



diately admitted to Holy Communion. Hence- 
forward they are permitted to be present at the 
holy mysteries of the altar, and to enjoy all the 
privileges of a Christian. 

The enthusiasm and religious joy that swayed 
the neophytes and their friends, on these occa- 
sions, could scarcely be imagined at present. 
There were often among those who received the 
regenerating waters of baptism, on such occa- 
sions, the reclaimed sanguinary chief, the young 
men from foreign lands who had come in quest 
of learning to Erin, and, even, the converted 
Druid, who, till very lately, had clung to his 
pillar-temple and stone altar, in the distant 
recesses of the mountains. 

While these proceedings were going on at 
Keneigh, the bishop of Rosscarberry was using, 
for the same purpose, the reed-house which stood 
near the church of his monastery ; the Bishop of 
Cork, the reed-house which stood near his 
Cathedral ; the Bishop of Cloyne, the reed- 
house which stands there still ; and so on, 
through the length and breadth of Ireland. 

On these occasions, the neophytes, or newly 
baptized persons, received, at the religious cere- 
mony, a white garment, or veil, which they wore 
for several days after. From this circumstance, 
Low Sunday, or the next after Easter, is, in the 
language of the church, called the " Sunday in 
White." Special reference was made to them in 



2l6 



THE ROUND TOWERS 



the public liturgy of that day, and a fervent 
prayer offered up to God in their behalf. From the 
same appearance of the neophytes baptized at 
Pentecost, Pentecost Sunday is popularly called 
White, or Whit Sunday. These two great solemn 
festivals occurred within that period of the 
ecclesiastical year which, in the language of the 
church, is called the Paschal time. Thus, in 
Irish, Easter Sunday is called Domhnach Caisce, 
the Sunday of the Pasch, and Pentecost Sunday, 
Domhnach cinnchishe, that is, the Sunday of the 
head, or end of the Pasch. In some places 
solemn baptisms were also performed on the 
festivals of Christmas, of the Epiphany, and of 
St. John the Baptist. 

It has been remarked by Dr. Petrie, and other 
writers on the subject of the Round Towers, that 
the .lowest compartment has, in no case, a 
window or aperture for the transmission of light, 
while each of the other stories has always one or 
more windows. Eor this peculiar feature they 
are utterly unable to account. They have also 
observed that, in this lowest compartment, have 
been, often, found, mixed with the materials of 
the floor, ashes, the remains of charcoal, and 
other indications of fire, together with broken 
pieces of pottery. The cause of these appear- 
ances, too, they have failed to explain. 

But, in the true theory, these details and ap- 
pearances will fit with admirable exactness. 



OF IRELAND. 



217 



There is no window in the lowest compartment ; 
for here candles were lighted at the ceremony of 
baptism ; and it was proper that the persons 
engaged there, and who had often to alter their 
dresses for the occasion, could not, by any pos- 
sibility, be seen from the outside. As, in the 
ancient baptisteries of foreign lands, there were 
places partitioned off there for undressing and 
redressing. On the days appointed for women, 
these were accompanied to the place by their 
female friends. This arrangement accounts for 
the total exclusion of light from without, while 
the interior was sufficiently illumined by the 
candles, or lamps, used at the sacred ceremony. 
As for the ashes, charcoal, and other indications 
of fire, together with the broken pieces of 
pottery, these may be naturally expected in a 
place to which fire must have been carried in 
some vessels, most likely of burned clay, to light 
the candles, and, as it was probably required at 
times, to air or heat the apartment, and temper 
the water used at baptism. The often severe 
weather at Easter, would suggest the necessity 
for a provision of this kind. Vessels of that sort 
might have been often also used for holding or 
pouring out the water on occasions of baptism. 

But what of the four windows, at the upper- 
most story of the tower, facing the cardinal 
points ? Can they be accounted for in any 
rational manner, in reference to these buildings, 

L 



218 



THE ROUND TOWERS 



as baptisteries, in connection with the ancient 
churches? They can. Even in the site and con- 
struction of the churches themselves, the cardinal 
points were scrupulously observed. Their walls 
ran east and west, north and south ; the altar 
window being always in the east gable, and 
the door in the west. What, then, could be 
more natural than that, in an important edifice 
of a religious character, in connection with them, 
the cardinal points, too, would be indicated by 
some features of the building ? But it appears 
that these four windows had, in themselves, a 
peculiar symbolical meaning. Four is a mystic 
number of the sacred Scriptures. It is frequently 
used in the Old Testament, and in the New. In 
the Gospel it is said : — " And he shall send his 
angels with a trumpet and a great voice : and 
they shall gather together his elect, from the 
four winds." Matt. xxiv. 31. St. Augustin, com- 
menting on the mystic meaning of this passage, 
says, " For the parts of the world are four, the 
east, the west, the north, and the south. These 
four parts are frequently mentioned in Scripture. 
From these four winds, as the Lord says in the 
Gospel, from the four winds he is to collect his 
elect : therefore from all these four winds is the 
church called. How is it called ? It is from all 
parts called in the Trinity. It is not called but 
by baptism, in the name of the Father, and of 
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." (Expos. 



OF IRELAND. 



219 



Super Psalmum 86). This was the mystic mean- 
ing of the four windows of the reed-house, 
facing, as we now express it, the four cardinal 
points of the compass, or the four winds. Per- 
sons were here called to baptism and to the 
church, from the east, west, north, and south. 

As a striking and singular illustration of the 
subject, there is a reference to this Scriptural 
figure in the Church's prayer of the blessing of 
the baptismal font for Easter and other seasons of 
the year, where it says, " Here the priest divides 
the water with his hands, and throws some of it 
outside the margin of the font, towards the four 
quarters of the globe." Hie manu aquam dividat, 
et deinde de ea effimdat extra marginem f otitis 
versus quatiwr orbis partes. The four windows 
were, manifestly, an emblem of this figure. That 
the cardinal points had an allegorical meaning 
in reference to baptism is certain. In addition 
to what has been already stated on the subject, 
it may be observed, that an ancient manuscript 
Ritual of the Cathedral Church of Saltzburgh, 
in Germany, directed that the head of the per- 
son who is being baptized should be dipped in 
the water, first towards the east, then towards 
the south, and then towards the north, in the 
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost. St. Virgilius, a native of Ireland, 
was, at an early period, bishop of this church. 
Perhaps, it may not be unlikely that the same 



220 



THE ROUND TOWERS. 



rule or rubric was observed in Ireland, the native 
country of Virgilius, where the cardinal points 
were conspicuously indicated in the very struc- 
tures in which baptism was performed. How- 
ever this may be, it is manifest that the mystical 
meaning, expressed in it, was also conveyed by 
the four windows respectively facing the east, 
south, north, and west. The coincidence be- 
tween this and the construction of the large vat, 
or " molten sea," for containing water in the 
temple of Solomon, is very striking and sugges- 
tive. This vat, which contained more than 
twelve thousand gallons of water, was placed upon 
supports which consisted of the brazen figures of 
twelve oxen. Three of these faced each of the 
four winds, or of the cardinal points. " It 
stood," says 3rd of Kings, verse 25, "upon 
twelve oxen, of which three looked towards the 
north, and three towards the west, and three to- 
wards the south, and three towards the east." 
This molten sea, or large water-vessel, in the 
temple of Solomon, was, probably, regarded as a 
symbol of baptism and of the baptismal font. 
At all events, its peculiar features with respect 
to the cardinal points exhibit a close and singu- 
lar analogy to that ceremony of the blessing of 
the baptismal water which regards the four 
quarters of the globe, and, also, to the four win- 
dows of the Irish baptistery, or reed-house. 
And if, as it is supposed, lights were placed at 



OF IRELAND. 



221 



night in that part of the reed-house, during the 
great festivals, the additional feature would give to 
the figure a deeper and more expressive signifi- 
cance. The ancient baptisteries of other lands, 
as the extracts from the French writers have 
stated, were called houses of illumination, or of 
light. Hence in the early ages of Christianity, 
baptized persons were called, in the Latin lan- 
guage, Illitminati, that is "the Illuminated, or En- 
lightened." It is not knownfor what special reason 
these edifices were called by that name ; whether 
it was because the persons baptized in them had 
gone through a long course of instruction before 
they received the sacrament, or becausethrough it 
the graces and enlightenment of the Holy Ghost 
descended on them, or because St. John the 
Baptist, the acknowledged patron of the baptist- 
eries, is, in the Gospel, called a burning and 
shining light, or, as it is in the Latin version of 
the Church, Lucema ardens et lucens. John v. 
35. From one or other of these causes, or, per- 
haps, from all combined, the baptismal structure 
was called a house of light, and the persons 
baptized in it, the illuminated. The burning 
candle, which was always placed in the hand of 
the newly baptized person, had, of course, a 
reference to the same mystic meaning. Saint 
Justin, a native of Sichim, in Palestine, who 
was born in tlie beginning of the second century, 
and who, for priority of time, is regarded as the 



222 THE ROUND TOWERS 



first of the Fathers of the Church, says that 
" Baptism is called illumination." 

It is a curious fact, that in the traditions of the 
people of Ireland there has been always found 
the idea of fire or light in connexion with the 
Round Towers. The Round Tower of Kilkenny 
was called " the lamp of Ireland," in Irish, lampa 
na Eireann. This title it obtained, perhaps, 
because it had been erected at a very early 
period, or, perhaps, on account of its great height, 
or because it was originally attached to a church 
dedicated to St. John the Baptist. Dr. Petrie 
says that his attention was called by a literary 
friend to the existence of a tower mentioned 
by Mabillon, in his Iter Germanicum, in con- 
nexion with the church of the monastery of 
St. Columbanus, at Luxiuil, in Burgundy. 
Mabillon says that it was called a Lucerna, that 
is, a 'Might," or " lantern." Cemitur prope ma- 
jorem ecclesice portam phants quam Lticemavi 
vocant. " There is seen near the great door of 
the church, a tower which they call a lamp or 
light." St. Columbanus was an Irishman of 
great learning, zeal, and piety, who, in the sixth 
century, with twelve clerical associates, departed 
from one of the schools of Erin, and went across 
the seas, to carry the light of the faith to foreign 
nations. After much travel he at length settled 
down at Luxiuil, in France, where he erected 
a splendid monastery and church, and soon 



OF IRELAND. 



223 



attracted great numbers of students to his 
college. This tower, erected near the principal 
gate of the church, and called a Lucerna, or 
lamp, was, in all probability, a reed-house, or bap- 
tistery, erected after the model of those which 
existed in Ireland. Its very name would indicate 
that it belonged to that class of sacred structures 
which, in the early ages of Christianity, were 
called "houses of illumination." This fact, how- 
ever, escaped the observation of both Mabillon 
and Petrie. 

The peculiar feature of the four windows in the 
Round Towers facing the cardinal points, has been 
a complete puzzle to Irish antiquaries. Whether 
they adopted the Pagan theory of their origin, or 
the Christian, this point was to them a mystery 
which they could not attempt to explain. Even 
the sacred emblems on the towers, such as the in- 
scribed cross, or the figure of the crucifixion above 
the door-way, presented most untoward difficulties 
to almost every system. The advocates of the 
Pagan origin were obliged to imagine that these 
emblems were the production of the chisel of 
some monks of the middle ages, who, for some 
object not known, endeavoured to give a Chris- 
tian character to these old structures. Nor was. 
the theory of the Christian origin without its 
difficulty in the matter. It was natural enough 
that an inscribed cross, or the figure of the 
Crucifixion, should be over the door of a church; 



224 



THE ROUND TOWERS 



but why should it appear on a structure which 
was a sort of fortress, a belfry, a beacon, or a 
store-house ? The sacred emblems are not out 
of place in the true theory. In the sacred struc- 
ture of the baptistery, which was the entrance to 
the church and its privileges, and in which persons 
received the first and most important of the 
sacraments of Christianity, they were quite 
appropriate. The baptistery of the present day, 
too, both in the Western and Eastern Churches, 
has generally the cross inscribed or placed upon 
it. In most cases a small stone cross, says 
Petrie, surmounted the conical head of the Round 
Tower. This is a striking analogy. 

It has been remarked, that in places where 
lime-stone abounds, and was at all times easily 
procured for building purposes, the Round Towers 
are constructed of brown stone, which must have 
been brought from a great distance, with much 
toil and trouble. This is the case with respect 
to Cloyne, Cashel, and other localities. What 
was the cause of this ? No light is thrown upon 
it by those who have written on the Towers. 
Some enthusiastic advocates of the fire-worship 
have ventured the opinion that the brown stone 
was selected as being better able to resist the 
action of fire. But, unfortunately for them, the 
Round Towers are found to be built of limestone 
in places where the limestone is of a dark or 
black colour. The true theory sufficiently 



OF IRELAND. 



225 



explains the matter. The reed-house should 
approximate as near as possible to the natural 
colour of the living reed. The perfect Round 
Tower, when viewed at a distance in the valley 
or on the hill's side, appears like a gigantic reed 
in the midst and above the trees by which it is 
surrounded. This would not be the case, if the 
external walls were composed of a light or white- 
coloured limestone ; and thus the dark stone is 
selected for the purpose. 

The plainest tower follows the model of the 
reed. In some of these structures, features have 
been introduced by the skill and taste of the 
builders, to make the likeness still more perfect. 
Thus thedifferent stories are sometimes externally 
marked by off-sets, or by bands which were, 
undoubtedly, intended to imitate the knots on 
the body or stalk of the natural reed. The Round 
Tower of Ardmore presents a beautiful specimen 
of this kind. There is at Kilmacduach a bending 
tower which hangs seventeen feet from the per- 
pendicular. Tradition says that it was built by 
the famous Irish architect named Goban Saor. 
The hanging feature, strange as it may appear, 
certainly entered into the original design ; and 
by it, in all probability, was intended to be repre- 
sented the reed bending with the wind, an 
expressive emblem of St. John the Baptist. The 
bold design, surely, would have been worthy of 
the genius of Goban, and the many ages of rain 

L 2 



226 



THE ROUND TOWERS 



and storm, which have passed over that remark- 
able structure, are a convincing proof of the 
correct calculation and skill of the architect. 
Some of the towers have been raised very high, 
to make them the more striking and impressive. 
The peculiarities of the ancient baptisteries of 
other lands consisted in their being round, in 
their being of a striking or imposing size and 
height, and in their being placed at a short 
distance from the walls of the churches. 
These features are fully represented in the reed- 
house. 

Two kinds of the very remarkable large reeds 
with conical heads, which served as models for 
the towers, are to be found in Ireland. The 
one has several knots and joints on the stalk. 
This would be the model for the Round Towers 
which have off-sets or bands on the external sur- 
face of the walls. The other has a clean, smooth 
stalk, and would be the model for the towers 
exhibiting a smooth and even surface. This 
latter reed is the more common, and so is the 
reed-house, or Round Tower, which follows it 
as a model. Both reeds exhibit the same outlines, 
being tall, graceful, and tapering up to the conical 
heads. On the borders of slimy lakes and 
sluggish rivers, these reeds grow to a great height : 
in dry soils they are short and stunted. 

It is a curious fact that one kind of these reeds, 
namely, the knotted, has, at the lower joints or 



OF IRELAND. 



227 



knots, a film, or bag, which holds and retains a 
considerable quantity of water, even in very dry 
weather. Was that peculiar feature, too, con- 
sidered and taken into account by those who 
selected it as a model for the reed-house which 
was to contain the water of baptism ? The 
coincidence, at all events, is very suggestive and 
curious. The notice of the writer was first at- 
tracted to this reed by its striking appearance 
as it grew on the side of the cliff between Car- 
lisle Fort and the Light House, on the harbour 
of Queenstown. There it was, with its graceful 
stalk, its knots, and its conical head, a perfect 
model of that beautiful Cuilceach, or Reed-house, 
which had been often seen and examined near 
the sea-shore at Ardmore. The tourist, of the 
traveller, often cuts down one of these reeds to 
convert it into a walking cane, and little thinks that 
what he carries under his arm was the original 
model of the famous Round Tower of Ireland. 

In general the reed-house, or Round Tower, 
is found standing alone, and single. But some 
few places in Ireland, such as Clonmicnois, Glen- 
dalough, Ferbane, Roscrea, and Sligo, have been 
distinguished by the presence of two of these 
ancientystructures. Possibly there were in each 
of these places, at one time, a bishop and a 
mitred abbot, to whose churches these towers be- 
longed. Or, the multitudes of people who came 
there at Easter and Pentecost for baptism were 



228 



THE ROUND TOWERS 



so great that one baptistery would have been 
insufficient. In this case, one reed-house would 
have been assigned to the men and another to 
the women, while, where there was only one 
tower, certain days were appointed for each. In 
no place were more than two reed-houses. 

In a few places have been found mere stumps 
of Round Towers, which, manifestly, were never 
raised higher than the first or second story. 
These contained only the baptistery, which was 
destitute of its emblematical superstructure. It 
is likely that they were used for the purposes 
of baptism, just as an unfinished or imperfect 
church is sometimes used for the celebration of 
the sacred mysteries. A temporary covering of 
boards or shingles could have been placed on them 
for the purpose. The original design of carrying 
them to the proper height might have been pre- 
vented by war, by want of means, or, perhaps, 
by their near approach to the time when these 
structures were getting out of use, that is, as the 
ancient Christian writers tell us, about the end 
of the sixth, or beginning of the seventh century. 

The Round Tower, or reed-house, is found in 
connection with only a very ancient Episcopal 
church. The very old sees, and the very old 
monasteries, or rather the churches of the old 
monasteries, where mitred abbots resided, had 
their reed-houses, while those of a later date are 
found to have been without them. This is 



OF IRELAND. 



229 



easily accounted for. About the end of the > 
sixth century the baptismal fonts commenced to 
be placed in the interior of the churches, and 
the large baptisteries outside gradually went out 
of use. In most of the countries of the East at 
that period, the great body of the adult popu- 
lation had been baptized, and the fonts in the 
churches answered sufficiently well for the 
of baptism of infants even by immersion. In the 
West about that time, or a little later, baptism 
by infusion began generally to be administered 
both to the old and the young. Hence there 
was no necessity for the large old baptisteries 
outside the churches, and they went gradually 
out of use. Perhaps, they were continued in 
Ireland to a comparatively later period ; but the 
fact of their use and origin having been involved 
in darkness and mystery in the twelfth century, 
proves that they had then long been disused, 
and that probably baptisms had not been per- 
formed in them for four hundred years. The 
incursions of the northern pirates, the extinction 
of learning, the suppression of the schools, the 
destruction of the churches, and the general con- 
fusion, caused their use and origin to be entirely 
forgotten. 

In some instances, a diminutive or miniature 
Round Tower is found standing within the walls 
of an old church. It is generally placed inside, 
at the West end, near the door, and the top of 



230 



THE ROUND TOWERS 



it rose many feet above the roof. Only a few 
specimens of these structures, which were pro- 
bably at one time very numerous, now remain. 
What were they ? The advocates of no former 
theory on the Round Towers have been able to 
venture a probable opinion. These were baptis- 
teries. When the large old towers were disused, 
and the ceremony of baptism was transferred to 
the churches, becoming structures, or places, 
were erected in them to contain the baptismal 
font. In most instances four slight walls, or 
perhaps a partition of boards, were made to 
answer for the purpose. But where artistic or 
antiquarian taste prevailed, the baptistery was 
made to assume the form of the reed-house, and 
thus exhibit the ancient expressive emblem. In 
these the door is on a level with the ground, 
and not high up, as in the old towers, because 
they were surrounded by the walls of the church, 
and there was now no longer any necessity for 
the precaution or privacy required at a former 
time, when adults were baptized by immersion. 
It is here seen with what admirable exactness 
even these remote details are explained by the 
true theory of the reed-house. 

It has been already observed that the archi- 
tecture of the Round Towers resembled, in many 
features, that of the ancient churches of Ireland. 
The heads of the door-ways and side windows 
of the old churches were sometimes square, 



OF IRELAND. 



sometimes angular, and sometimes semicircular. 
The same is the case with respect to the Round 
Towers, and it is likely that each reed-house 
corresponded in these features with the original 
old church near which it was erected. 

The Round Tower, or reed-house, was truly an 
emblematic structure. That of Keneigh, which 
has been already noticed, will serve as an illus- 
tration. The three steps, or receding off-sets, of 
solid rock and circular masonry, which con- 
stituted the foundation of the tower, were, like 
those of the gigantic baptistery of Pisa in Italy, 
emblematical of the Holy Trinity, in whose 
name baptism is administered. The remark- 
able triangular figure, or window, over the 
door in some of the towers, was also an emblem 
of the Holy Trinity. The elevated door look- 
ing towards the door of the church, with the 
entire group of buildings, represented that 
which was uttered by Jacob, after seeing the 
vision of the mysterious ladder : " This is no 
other than the house of God and the gate of 
heaven." And, probably, it was intended even 
to emphasize this figure by the great elevation 
to which the door was, in many instances, 
raised. The descent into the lower compart- 
ment of the tower, the place of the baptismal 
font, where there was no window nor aperture for 
light, was, in a manner, an entrance to the grave, 
and represented that which Saint Paul says in 



232 



THE ROUND TOWERS 



his Epistle to the Romans : " We, who are 
baptized in Christ Jesus, are baptized in his 
death : for we are buried together with him by 
baptism into death." The ascent from that 
lower compartment again, after the baptism 
received there, was an expressive symbol of 
regeneration and a new life. The hexagonal 
figure of the lower compartment in this particu- 
lar tow r er, was, as in the symbolic baptisteries of 
the early Christians in other countries, an 
emblem of the manifold gifts of the Holy Ghost 
and of His sanctifying graces. The high and 
imposing superstructure, terminating in a cone, 
was an expressive index pointing to heaven ; 
while the entire building, or reed-house, was an 
emblem of Saint John the Baptist, the recog- 
nised patron and prototype of the early Christian 
baptistery. And if, as it is likely, light was 
placed at night in the four uppermost windows, 
facing the cardinal points, the reed-house would 
be alternately a symbol of the pillar of cloud 
and of the pillar of fire that conducted the 
Israelites through the wilderness on their 
journey to the land of promise. The cross on 
the door-head and on the top, and the figure of 
Saint John w T ith the cup and lamb, as on the 
Round Tower of Brechin, would, of course, impart 
additional emblematical features tothe reed-house. 

The arrangement in the reed-house, which 
comprised and necessitated a descent to the 



OF IRELAND. 



233 



font in a lower compartment, throws an import- 
ant light on an old baptismal rubric, which has 
hitherto appeared obscure and unintelligible. A 
short preliminary notice of the ancient Irish literary- 
relic, or liturgical fragment, in which this rubric 
is found, will not be out of place here. There is 
at present in the possession of Lord Ashburnham 
in England, an ancient Manuscript Missal, which 
at one time belonged to a church or monastery 
in Ireland. According to the opinion of Dr. 
O'Connor, Dr. Todd, and other antiquaries, who 
have examined this manuscript, its production 
cannot be assigned to a later period than the 
fifth century. It is encased in a stout oaken 
box, richly ornamented with silver plates. On 
this case are inscriptions in Irish bearing the 
names of several donors or repairers, among 
whom are Donnchadh, son of Brian, King of 
Ireland, and Mac-Raith-Hit-Dunnchadha, King 
of Cashel, who both lived in the beginning of the 
eleventh century. From this it appears that, 
even at that early period, the manuscript was an 
old and precious relic, on which kings and princes 
were anxious to bestow their valuable gifts, with 
a view to preserve it from the corroding hand of 
time. The name of the original scribe or writer 
of the manuscript, which is attached to the end 
of the Gospel of St. John, in Ogham characters, 
representing the word, Sonid^ throws no light on 
the age or period at which it was produced, as 



234 



THE ROUND TOWERS 



this Sonid, who was, probably, a distinguished 
scholar in his own time, is now utterly unknown. 

The manuscript has got the name of the Stowe 
Missal, as it formed one of the valuable collection 
of manuscripts for a long time preserved at that 
place. It is written on vellum, in an ancient 
Lombardic character, and in the Latin language. 
Besides the Ordo Missce, or the Order of the 
Mass, the Missal contains the Gospel of St. John, 
and other portions of the New Testament. Some 
of the rubrics, or directions for the priest at Mass, 
are in the Irish language. 

With this Manuscript Missal is combined a 
Ritual of Baptism, exhibiting the same style of 
writing and material, and equal evidences of 
great antiquity. The Ordo Baptismi, or Order 
of Baptism, commences at page 70 of the, 
manuscript, and occupies forty-one additional 
pages. Here is found the rubric on which the 
descent into the under compartment of the Round 
Tower or reed-house throws a remarkable light. 

After the exorcisms, the introductory prayers, 
and the questions asked and answered on the 
principal articles of faith, the priest is directed 
to descend with the catechumen into the font. 
The words of the rubric are, descendit in fontem, 
u he descends into the fountain." What is the 
meaning of these words ? The writer of a clever 
article in a late number of the Irish Ecclesiastical 
Record says, " Some have supposed that these 



OF IRELAND. 



235 



words imply that the priest himself entered the 
fountain with the person who was about to re" 
ceive baptism ; but without further proof we 
cannot accept this as the meaning of the rubric." 
That the priest should go into the font appeared 
incongruous and unnatural to this writer; and 
yet he was unable to offer or supply a better 
explanation of the rubric himself. The descent 
into the lower compartment of the reed-house, 
where the baptismal font was placed, explains it 
most satisfactorily. " He descends into the 
fountain," that is, he goes down to the compart- 
ment where the font was, and which from that 
circumstance received the general name of the 
fountain. It appears that all the preliminary 
prayers and ceremonies, and also the concluding 
ones, took place above on the door-flooring, and 
that they descended into the lower compartment 
merely for the purpose of the baptism-immersion. 
A writer contemporary with St. Ambrose, in the 
fourth century, speaking of the practice of the 
Church of Milan, which, also, had its separate or 
distinct baptistery, says, addressing himself to the 
newly-baptized person, " Thou hast ascend ed from 
the font ; what followed ? You have heard the lec- 
ture or instruction : the priest has girded him- 
self, and washed your feet." Ascendisti de fonte; 
quid secutum est f A udisti lectionem ; succinctus 
est sacerdos : pedes tibi lavit. Here this writer 
states that the concluding ceremonies after the 



236 



THE ROUND TOWERS 



immersion took place above ; and it is inferred 
from the Irish Manuscript Ritual, that it was 
only after the preliminary prayers they descended 
to the fountain. This arrangement was both 
natural and convenient. It permitted the 
baptism or immersion of the adult persons to 
proceed without interruption, and, also, secured 
for them the privacy and propriety required in 
the circumstances. It has been already stated 
that, in some instances, there is a large window, 
like a smaller door, placed over the regular door 
of the Round Tower. It would appear that this 
was intended to throw additional light from 
above on the place where the prayers were read, 
and the introductory and concluding ceremonies 
performed. Or, perhaps, it was for the purpose, 
when a large number presented themselves for 
baptism, of conducting a second separate service 
for them in the upper story. 

The ceremony of washing the feet of the 
newly-baptised, of which there is mention in 
connection with the church of Milan, is also 
prescribed in this ancient Manuscript Ritual of 
Ireland. This practice prevailed at an early 
period in many of the churches of Italy, of 
Gaul, of Spain, and of Africa. It was not 
practised in Rome. It was a ceremony intended 
to inculcate charity and humility after the 
example of our Saviour. On those, the rich and 
the poor, who came to the same place to be 



OF IRELAND. 



237 



baptised, to go through the same ceremonies, 
and use the same font, it, most likely, exercised 
an humbling and conciliating effect. In some 
instances, popular ignorance attached undue 
importance to the ceremony; and it is stated that 
at a council held at Elvira, in Spain, at a very 
early period, as some say, about the year 300, 
it was ordered to be discontinued, lest it should 
be regarded as a distinct sacrament, or as an 
essential part of baptism. 

This Manuscript Ritual of Ireland, which 
prescribes it, must have been used at a time 
when Paganism still prevailed in the land, for it 
contains a prayer of thanksgiving to God for 
having rescued the newly baptised person from 
the errors of the Gentiles. Quern liberasti de 
errore Gentilium — " whom Thou hast freed from 
the error of the Gentiles." In the Missal there 
is, also, in the Canon of the Mass, a prayer 
imploring God to guard the persons whom it 
commemorates against the Pagan errors. The 
following is the translation of the Latin text : — 
" We beseech, O Lord, that mercifully thou 
wouldst receive this tribute of our duty of the 
church, and of all thy people, which we offer in 
honour of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in com- 
memoration of thy blessed martyrs, in this 
church, which thy servant erected unto the 
honour of thy name and glory, and that thou 
wouldst deliver him and all the people from the 



238 



THE ROUND TOWERS 



worship of idols, and convert them to the Lord, 
the Father Omnipotent." 

Here are most striking evidences of the great 
antiquity of these Liturgical fragments. The 
Manuscript must be a copy of the very first 
Missal, and of the very first Baptismal Ritual 
used in Ireland. And it is the only copy of 
them now remaining. Apparently, all the early 
churches of the land were provided with similar 
copies ; but these have all perished in the lapse 
of ages. This manuscript is, by the inscriptions 
and names on the cover, traced to the country 
of Ormond ; and it is believed that it originally 
belonged to some church or monastery in that 
ancient district. Probably, it was used at 
baptism in the fine Round Tower of Roscrea, 
which still stands there, after having braved the 
storms of ages. At all events, it is curious that 
it should, if the present theory holds, come 
again into connexion with the reed-house, after 
having lost its acquaintance for a thousand 
years. 

Not only in a religious, but, also, in a national 
and antiquarian view, is the Round Tower, or reed- 
house, of Ireland highly interesting. It is an 
expressive and unmistakable monument of the 
early Christian civilization of this country. The 
ancient Christian writers, in treating of the 
institutions and manners of the early Christians 
in the East, tell us that the large, round, high, 



OF IRELAND. 



239 



isolated baptisteries belonged to the very first 
ages of Christianity, and that they went out of 
use about the beginning of the seventh century, 
For the most part, these ancient structures have 
disappeared under the combined influence of 
time, and of the ravages of the Moslem and of 
the barbarian, to such a degree, that it is only 
from the works of ancient writers their existence, 
use, and peculiar features can be now collected, 
But in Ireland there are still standing many 
specimens of these structures of the early Chris- 
tians, which, while they tell the long tale of time, 
bear unerring witness to the high origin of 
Christianity in the country. They are interest- 
ing memorials of our early saints, for by them 
they were designed and erected ; and they are, 
also, expressive monuments of the faith, for they 
performed an important part in baptizing and 
Christianizing ancient Ireland. They are now 
time-worn and neglected — those ancient struc- 
tures, which were instrumental in bringing the 
Druid and the Pagan to the true faith, and 
which witnessed the arrival and departure of 
many a generation of the students, native and 
foreign, who flocked to the far-famed schools of 
Erin. Will the time ever arrive which shall 
behold the hand of restoration counteracting the 
work of decay and of destruction, and placing 
once more their old conical heads on these, per- 
haps, the most interesting monuments of early 
Christianity in the world ? 



240 



THE ROUND TOWERS 



It has been remarked, by even those who have 
failed to discover the true theory of the Round 
Towers, that the architecture and masonry of 
these structures would appear to be of Eastern 
style and origin. This observation is, probably, 
correct. In treating of the ancient churches of 
Ireland, it was observed that these edifices very 
much resemble the old churches of Greece and 
other places in the East. The old churches of 
Palestine, Asia-Minor, and Greece consisted of 
a nave and chancel, and so did the old churches 
of Ireland. The churches of the East were 
always built east and west, with the altar in the 
east gable. It was the same in Ireland, while 
in the Western church they faced indifferently 
any point of the heavens. The various names, 
which are given to the churches in Irish, are, for 
the most part, Celtic representatives of the 
names bestowed on them in the East, and, 
especially, in the Greek-speaking countries. 
The appellation of large and small churches 
prevailed in the East, and so did it in Ireland, as 
the frequent use of cill-mor and cill-beg fully 
testifies. In the East the mystical number of 
seven churches in one place had its origin, and 
became very frequent. Many places in Ire- 
land, too, had their seven churches. The 
Cyclopean architecture of the ancient Irish 
churches and of many of the towers resembles 
also the Eastern pattern. What is to be inferred 



OF IRELAND. 241 

from this ? That, in all probability, the first 
Christian missionaries who visited Ireland had 
come from the East, and that they planted the 
Eastern customs in the country. The baptistery, 
or house of illumination, was very much in use 
in the East ; and so, the reed-house says, it was 
in Ireland, far beyond any of the other countries 
of the West. Even the ancient name of the 
Mass in Ireland is different from that of all the 
other Western countries. With these it is some 
variation of the word Miss a, while in Ireland it 
is, and always has been, Afrion, or Afrionn-de, 
a word which is fully explained in the chapter 
on the ancient churches, and which means " the 
very true Lamb of God." In the matter of 
clerical tonsure, and in the computation of the 
time of Easter, there were also some peculiarities 
among the ancient Irish. It is well known that 
a frequent mercantile intercourse existed be- 
tween Ireland and the East, in early Christian, 
and, even, in Druidical times. From that East 
might not, at an early period, have been wafted 
to this country a seedling of the faith which 
took slow but sure root, and was brought to full 
growth and perfection under the care and 
culture of subsequent missionaries? Ireland, 
which was beyond the power and the persecu- 
tion of the Roman Empire, was, probably, in this 
way, one of the first countries of the reed-house, 
or of the ancient Christian baptistery. It, 

M 



242 THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 

certainly, can exhibit it in greater strength 
to-day than any other land. 

How wonderfully tenacious of truth is tradi- 
tion ! While learned theories were giving up 
these structures to the Druids and to the fire- 
worship, a universal living tradition among the 
people asserted, and still asserts, that they were 
erected by the "old saints." For what purpose, 
however, they were erected, that tradition can- 
didly confessed it could not tell. An old legend, 
which says that each of them was built in one 
night by the local saint, and that it would have 
been raised to the heavens, if it had not been for 
the interference of a woman, was, probably, a 
simple allegory of some hidden fact, or, perhaps, 
in some way, expressive of the mist and dark- 
ness in which their original use was involved. 
At all times they have been objects of much 
popular curiosity, as well as of historical and 
antiquarian interest. They are now, as the 
writer believes, incontestably claimed for the 
"old saints" and their churches, and connected 
with an ancient Christian use and practice which 
will not fail to commend them still more to 
the respectful attention of the country and its 
people. 



THE END. 



NOTES 



SECOND EDITION. 



THE CELTIC LANGUAGE. 



" For the perfection, or, at least, for the better elucidation of 
Celtic literature, I consider a diligent study of the Irish language 
to be of great importance." — Leibnitz. 

u It is an incontrovertible fact that the old languages of Rome 
and Greece drew largely on the Celtic for their component ma- 
terials." — Preface. 



There are many words in these languages the 
roots of which are found solely in the Celtic. 
The Latin word, lacus, " a lake/' comes from 
lock, " a lake," of the Celtic. The roots of it are 
lo, " water," and achadh, "a field," that is, an 
expanse of water. In the Latin itself no root is 
found for the word. The Latin word, villa, " a 
village " or " house," is derived from the Celtic 
word, baile, " a village," the root of which is boll, 
"a place," and i, "a country," that is, a definite 
place ; or perhaps from bulla, " a wall," and i, 
" a country," that is, a circumvallated, or walled 
place. Polis, " a city," of the Greek, is from the 
same root. 

The word lingua, " a tongue," comes from the 

N 



244 



THE CELTIC LANGUAGE. 



Celtic teanga, " a tongue," of which the roots are, 
dean, " to make," and guth, " voice." It was 
originally written in Latin, dingua, " the voice- 
maker." 

The Latin word bellum, " war," comes from 
the Celtic bualadh, " war," which is formed from 
bualim, " I strike." 

Scutum, "a shield," comes from the Celtic 
sgiath, " a shield," and which also means in the 
Celtic a basket of wickerwork, of the materials of 
which shields were originally made. 

The Latin word nihil % " nothing," is formed 
from the Celtic, ni-fhuil, " there is not," or " ne- 
gation." 

Aetas, " age," of the Latin, comes from aos, 
"age," of the Celtic; and coelum, " heaven," is 
formed from ceal, u heaven," of the Celtic. 

Max Miiller is mistaken in deriving age, "age" 
of the French, from the Latin cetas, " age." It 
is derived from the Celtic aos, or aoise. In old 
French Age was written eage, which comes near 
aoise, pronounced eeshe. In the Sanskrit it is 
Ay-us, which would appear to be a mere form of 
aoise, of the Celtic, showing that these two are 
kindred languages, 

The Latin word scribo 9 "to write," comes from 
the Celtic sgriobh, " to write," and also " to 
scrape," or " score." 

Grapho, " to write," of the Greek, comes from 
grafaim, " I scrape," of the Celtic. 



NOTES. 



245 



The Latin word liber y " a book," comes from 
leabhar of the Celtic, the roots of which are 
high, " to read," and abhar means "or matter," 
that is, the thing with which to read. This has 
a clear and definite meaning, which, certainly, the 
derivation of the word by Latin scholars has not. 
Even biblion, " a book," of the Greek, could with 
greater propriety be derived from the Celtic than 
from biblos y the skin of a plant. Biblion, if written 
birlion, would have the same roots abhar and leigh, 
the "means to read." Books were written cer- 
tainly before^h^skin of a certain plant growing 
in a particular country was discovered as a ma- 
terial to write on. 

From dom y " a house," of the Celtic, come 
domns of the Latin, domos of the Greek, and 
doma of the Sanskrit. The monosyllabic dom 
is manifestly the primitive word, and from it 
comes " home " of the English. 

Turris, " a tower," of the Latin, and purgos of 
the Greek, come from tour, "tower," of the Celtic. 
The roots of tour are, tigh y " a house," and ur, 
" heavens," a house of the heavens, or an elevated 
structure. The name of a spire in the Celtic is 
ftth-neamhiiigh y " the spear of the heavens." 

Edo, " to eat," of the Greek, and edo, of the 
Latin, come from ith of the Celtic. Ovum, " an 
e gg>" °f the Latin, comes from ugh, or ubh, of 
the Celtic. 

The Latin word, vellus, " a fleece/ ' comes from 



246 



THE CELTIC LANGUAGE. 



the Celtic ollann, " wool," the roots of which are 
uadk, "a sheep," and lan, "covering." For want of 
a root, Latin scholars derive vellus from vcllo, 
"to tear," because it is sometimes torn from the 
hide! 

The Latin vicus, "a village," comes from fick 
of the Celtic, and acer, " sharp,'' of the Latin, 
from gear, " sharp," of the Celtic. 

Dies, 11 a day," comes from dia of the Celtic. 

Thura, " a door," of the Greek, comes from 
dor, " a door," of the Celtic. Terra, " land," of 
the Latin, comes from tir, pronounced theer, of 
the Celtic. 

Pater, " father," of the Greek and Latin, comes 
from ahir, "father," of the Celtic. Mater, 
" mother," comes from mathair of the Celtic, 
and f rater, " brother," or " relative," from bra- 
thair. Zens pater comes from tuis-ahir, " first 
father," of the Celtic, as he was the father of 
gods and men. 

Barbaras, " a barbarian," comes from barba- 
rach of the Celtic, the root being bar, " extre- 
mity," bair, " of extremity," and i, " a country." 

Carina, " a ship," of the Latin, comes from 
curragh of the Celtic, the root being cor, " skin," 
and each, " a horse," as these vessels were origi- 
nally made of wickerwork covered with the skins 
of horses. 

Verus, " true," of the Latin, comes from fior 
"true," of the Celtic. Bonus, "good," of the 



NOTES. 



247 



Latin, probably comes from maith, " good," of 
the Celtic. Most likely bonus was, at first, monus, 
as the comparative of it is melior. Luna, 
"moon," of the Latin, comes from Luan, " moon," 
of the Celtic. Luna of the Latin is feminine, 
while luan of the Celtic is masculine ; and the 
name of the moon in Sanskrit and other ancient 
languages is also masculine, like the Celtic. The 
termination of the names of countries in ta, as 
in Italia, is borrowed from the Celtic, as ia in 
the Celtic means " a country." Vita, " life," 
of the Latin, comes from bi, " life," of the Celtic. 
The Latin had not originally the letter v. 

Camellus, " camel," of the Latin, comes from 
carnal of the Celtic, the roots of which are cam, 
" crooked," and al, " a horse," or beast of 
burthen, a most appropriate derivation, as the 
animal is crooked from its nose to the tip of its 
tail. 

The Latin word homo, " a man," comes from 
the Celtic umhan, " human," the root of which is 
umh, " the earth," and an, " man." 

Tectum, " a house," in Latin, comes from 
teach, " a house," of the Celtic. 

Rex, " king," of the Latin, comes from ri of 
the Celtic, and lex, " law," of the Latin, from li 
of the Celtic. The long i in the Celtic is pro- 
nounced ee. It was the same in Latin, as it is 
also in Italian and other languages immedi- 
ately descended from that tongue. 



248 THE CELTIC LANGUAGE. 



The Latin portus, " a harbour," comes from 
port of the Celtic. 

The Latin word mare, "the sea/' comes from 
muir of the Celtic, which signifies the same thing ; 
and amnis, " a river," of the Latin, comes from 
amhan of the Celtic. 

Pallium, " a cloak," of the Latin, comes from 
filleadh of the Celtic. The word means to fold 
or encircle, there being no root for it in the Latin. 

Folium, "a volume," though commonly derived 
from folium, "a leaf," comes from the same root, 
filleadh, which better expresses the written roll 
of parchment, or of any other material. 

Folium, " a leaf," comes from billog, " a leaf," 
of the Celtic, the roots of which are bil, i( a bud" 
or "blossom," and og, "young." 

Iereus, " a priest," and ieros, " holy," of the 
Greek, come from adlwadh, or iadhradh, of the 
Celtic, which means prayer or adoration. The 
Druidical priests were called A raiu, that is, men 
of prayer or adoration, and by the name is spe- 
cially meant "a judge," for these priests were the 
legislators and judges of their people. In ancient 
history there is frequent mention of a great 
people called the Aryans, whose original set- 
tlement is traced to Central Asia, and who 
afterwards spread over vast countries of the 
world, From India to Scythia. Their language, 
the Aryan tongue, ranked high in antiquity. "In 
the Sanskrit," says Max Miiller, " in the hymns 



NOTES. 



249 



of the Veda, Arya occurs frequently as a 
national name, and as a name of honour, com- 
prising the worshippers of the gods of the Brah- 
mins." What is the root of this name, Aryan? 
It is the Celtic alone which gives the true root, 
namely, Arain, " men of prayer " or " adoration." 
They were the Druidical people, and their re- 
ligious tenets are to be found among the Brah- 
mins even to this day. In the law-book of the 
Manavas, India is called Arya-avarta, which 
means "the abode of the Aryas." Ireland has 
also derived one of her ancient names from them. 
Erinn is formed from ia-aram, the island or 
country of the men of prayer, that is, of the 
Druidical legislators and judges. Max Miiller 
derives the name Aryan from the Latin word 
arare, " to plough," probably from his want of 
knowledge of the Celtic. This, however, does 
not take away from the great value of his 
researches on the subject. It is curious that, 
even to this day, Persia, an old Druidical 
country, has the name of Irann, from 
the Aryans. Aran, or Arain, is formed from 
adhradh (pronounced arrah), " prayer," and an, 
" man." The Latin word orare, "to pray," comes 
from adhradh ; and, thus, if Max Miiller said 
that Aryan came from or are, s< to pray," instead 
of arare, " to plough," he would be nearer the 
truth. The Celtic is the Aryan tongue. 

The Latin word bos, "a cow," comes from bo 



250 THE CELTIC LANGUAGE. 

of the Celtic ; ovis, "a sheep," of the Latin, from 
aodli of the Celtic ; eqims, " a horse," of the Latin, 
from each of the Celtic ; pur, " fire," of the 
Greek, and foure, " furnace," of the French, from 
ur s " fire," of the Celtic ; ancliora, " anchor," of 
the Latin, from anclioire or ungclioire of the 
Celtic. The roots of this word are ung, "a 
claw" or " talon," and curach, "a boat," or 
"ship." In the Latin there is no root of the 
word. The claw, or talon, of the boat or ship, as 
in the Celtic, is a beautiful derivation. The Latin 
word unguis" %. nail," or "talon," comes from wig 
of the Celtic. The Greek word keir, " a hand," 
comes from crobh, " a hand," of the Celtic ; the 
Latin word caput, " a head," comes from the 
Celtic name ceann ; os, u a mouth," of the Latin, 
comes from os of the Celtic, and crinis, "hair," 
of the Latin, from gruag, " hair," of the Celtic. 
The root-words of the original language are 
generally monosyllabic, and this we find to be 
the case in the examples here given from the 
Celtic. 

The numerals, or the words which express 
numbers, give a fair idea of the relative antiquity 
of a language in their formation. They are 
monosyllables in the Celtic, and from them are 
manifestly formed those of the Latin and the 
Greek. 



NOTES. 



251 



Celtic. 


Latin. 


Greek. 


English- 


Aon 


Unus 


Eis 


One 


uo 


JUuO 


JJllO 


1 WO 


Tri 
J. n 


Tres 


Treis 


± IllCC 


v^cctLiidir 


v^/ud.iuur 


± cLLciXCi, 


Four 


Cuig 


Quinine 


XCLllC 


r ive 




oex 


T? 

H.X 


c; v 


Seachd 


Septem 


Epta 


Seven 


Ochd 


Octo 


Okto 


Eight 


Naoi 


Novem 


Ennea 


Nine 


Deich 


Decern 


Deka 


Ten. 



The Celtic counts one on ten for eleven ; two 
on ten, twelve ; and so on to twenty, which is 
twice-ten. Then one on twice-ten, twenty-one, 
&c. The termination of ten would seem to have 
been originally suggested by the counting of the 
fingers of the two hands. 

The name of God must be a striking and im- 
portant word in any language. It is Theos in 
the Greek, and Dens in the Latin. The word is 
the same, with a slight variation, in both lan- 
guages. But does any of these languages con- 
tain the root of it ? No. Indeed, Greek 
scholars ridiculously derive Theos, " God," from 
theo> " to run," as if it were a hare, an antelope, 
or a greyhound. It is only in the Celtic lan- 
guage the root of this word is to be found. Ta % 
pronounced Thaw, is the name of God in the 
Celtic, and the meaning of Ta is Is, or Am, the 
same as Yah of the Hebrew. This indicates 
that God is the universal Being, and that He 

N 2 



252 THE CELTIC LANGUAGE. 



alone has existence by excellence, and of Him- 
self. How different that from theo, u to run," of 
the dictionaries ! This word, Thau, as applied 
to God, has been found in the languages of many- 
ancient peoples. Dia, as now generally used, is 
merely a variation or formation of it. 

The Museum of the Jesuits' College at Rome 
contains a large number of ancient Etruscan 
coins which were dug out of the earth in many 
parts of Italy, especially in Tuscany. These 
coins belonged to an Etrusco-Phoenician colony, 
which inhabited that country long before the 
States of Greece and Rome were founded. The 
material of the coins is bronze. They exhibit 
various figures and emblems, and also letters 
and words in early Phoenician characters. On 
many of these coins the word Thah, " God," is 
inscribed, and it is generally written AT, or HAT. 
(Ta or Tah) from the" right to the left. This 
would indicate that the Celtic or Phoenician lan- 
guage was originally written from right to left, 
like the Hebrew and other ancient Eastern lan- 
guages. There is a very remarkable figure on 
one of these coins which bears the word Thah. 
It is a human head in profile, proceeding from a 
round conical sea-shell. According to learned 
commentators, this figure means the Supreme 
Deity, the involutes of the shell diminishing 
gradually to an invisible point, being emblema- 
tical of the revolving years of eternal existence. 



NOTES. 



253 



Here it may be remarked that the numerous 
roots and words derived by the Latin language 
from the Celtic can be naturally accounted for 
by the fact, that Italy was, at a very remote age, 
colonized by Phoenicians. 

Vestiges of the word Thah are also found in 
other countries. In China, from time immemorial, 
it exists under the form of Thao, or Tao. Lao- 
tseu and Confucius, two ancient sages and writers 
of that country, call Tao the beginning and end 
of all things ; the creator of all that grows and 
perishes ; the beginning of heaven and earth, 
who has a name that cannot be named, who is 
immense, silent, and immutable. It is stated 
that an ancient religious sage of that country 
was asked by one of its emperors, who was Tao? 
and that he took three months to study the sub- 
ject, and that his answer at length was, that Tao 
is dark and obscure, that he cannot be seen, and 
that he is the creator of everything that grows 
and dies. The in Tao is a Chinese termina- 
tion, which being removed, leaves the word in 
its primitive Celtic form, Ta. The os in Theos 
is likewise a Greek termination. 

Anpther name of God in the Celtic is Alia, 
which is formed from all, universal, and ha, a 
vocal inflexion of Ta, that is, the universal Is, or 
the universal Being. Allah of the Arabic 
appears to be of the same formation, and also 
Celtic. The Celtic names of God, like those of 



254 THE CELTIC LANGUAGE. 



the Persian and the Hebrew, are expressive of 
His essence as a necessary and self-existing 
Being. Dia (in Latin Dens) is the most general 
form of this name of God. Dia, pronounced 
dheeah, is an abreviation of di-ha. Di (dhee) 
means very, or intensive, and ha is a vocal 
inflexion of Ta, that is, very Is, or very Being. 
It is less abbreviated in Sanskrit, which has Diva 
for the name of God, and was also less abbre- 
viated in ancient German, which had Dieth for 
the same name. Strange as it may appear, the 
English name, God, came from this Dieth of the 
ancient German. By the Goths Dieth was changed 
to Goth, their name of God, and from Goth came 
Gott of the modern German, Gud, or God, of the 
Danish, God of the Saxon, and God of the Eng- 
lish, all derived, through many peoples, and many 
generations, from the original Celtic source, mean- 
ing Very Is, or Very Being. 

What was man's first language ? Or, in other 
words, what is the oldest language ? This ques- 
tion was asked more than six hundred years 
before the Christian era, and about one hundred 
years after the foundation of the city of Rome. 
And the answer given to it was in favour of the 
Phoenician or Celtic language. Herodotus, in 
his second book, says that, at this period, the 
question as to what was the oldest language was 
discussed among many nations, and that Psam- 
meticus, a learned and energetic king of Egypt, 



NOTES. 



255 



took part in the controversy. He confined two 
young children, and fed them with milk. The 
shepherd, to whose care they were entrusted, was 
ordered never to speak to them, but to watch 
diligently their articulations. After some time 
the shepherd observed that whenever he entered 
the place of their confinement, they repeatedly 
exclaimed Beccos, Beccos, and he gave informa- 
tion of this to the monarch. The king imme- 
diately made inquiries, and found that the word 
Beccos meant " food" or " bread" in the language 
spoken in Phrygia, which was the Phoenician 
tongue, and from this circumstance he concluded 
that this language was of the greatest antiquity. 
Of course, other antiquarian and philological 
inquiries assisted in producing that conviction. 

And the root of the word Beccos belongs to 
the Celtic language to this day. The Celtic word, 
biadh, means " food," " nourishment," or " bread," 
and the root of it is bi, " living." 

As Herodotus wrote in Greek, the os in Beccos 
is manifestly a Greek termination, which being 
removed, the word would be bee or bic y which 
comes near bee and biadh of the Celtic. This 
coincidence, I believe, was never observed before. 
Some have conjectured that the cry uttered by 
these children might have been imitated from 
the fowls or the four-footed animals that sur- 
rounded their domicile. It has been remarked 
that the young of a certain species of barn-fowl, 



256 THE CELTIC LANGUAGE. 



when they come to look for their food, utter a 
cry resembling biadh, pronounced beeah. 

There are intrinsic features that make strong 
the claims of the Celtic as a primitive language. 
In it the names of animals are formed from the 
natural sounds or cries emitted by these animals. 
Thus bo is the name of a cow, and it is well 
known that this animal emits the sound bo or 
mho. Gaigheir is the name of a dog, and the 
animal emits that sound from his deep throat. 
Aodh is the name of a sheep, and the sound is 
easily distinguished among the flock. Each is 
the name of a horse, and the sound is emitted by 
that animal. Muc is the name of a pig, and the 
sound is found among the herd. Cuileac is the 
name of a cock, and the bird emits that sound ; 
cearc is the name of a hen, and its sound is heard 
in the poultry yard ; shikeen is the name of a 
chicken, and when it cries to its comrades, the 
young bird is heard to emit that sound. Preachan 
is the name of a crow, and the bird is known to 
emit the sound preach, pronounced preegh. 

Even many of the names of objects or things 
in the Celtic are imitations of the sounds of 
nature. Thus toirneach, " thunder," is a close 
imitation of the sound of nature ; goath, "wind," 
is an imitation ; uisghe, " water," reminds one of 
the running stream ; and tin or tinne y " fire," 
is caught from the sound of the burning faggot. 
Meidhligy the bleating of sheep, well expresses 



NOTES. 



257 



the chorus of the flock. The sound of the word 
crann, " a tree," is easily discerned in the crashing 
branches in the storm ; and the word muir y " the 
sea," suggests the peculiar noise produced by 
the winds on the mighty waters. The sound of 
amhan, " a river," is easily caught by the ear when 
one listens for a few moments on the banks of 
the gliding stream. The word sdoirm, "a storm," 
expresses the sound which the gale produces at 
its high stern note; and baisteack, "heavy rain," 
is typical of the falling torrents. If space per- 
mitted it here, the stream of these typical sounds, 
or, as they are called, phonetic types, could be 
followed for an immense distance in the Celtic. 
But a chord is touched which, perhaps, other 
hands may cause to vibrate more effectually. 

A strong proof of the originality and antiquity 
of the Celtic language is deduced from the fact, 
that the roots of all its words are to be found in 
itself. This is not the case with respect to the 
Greek, Latin, and other old languages. Cardinal 
Wiseman admits that for many words of even 
the Hebrew, the roots are not to be found in that 
language itself, but are sought for in the Arabic 
and other tongues. The Celtic contains a large 
number of them. 

But perhaps the most striking proof of the 
antiquity of the Celtic lies in the fact, that frag- 
ments of the language are found in all parts of the 
world, even in India and among the original tribes 



258 „ THE CELTIC LANGUAGE. 



of America. Cardinal Wiseman states that two- 
thirds of the words of the languages of the origi- 
nal tribes of America have been traced to the 
Celtic. And assuredly a closer investigation 
would discover even a larger proportion. For 
instance, many of the tribes there bestow the 
name of Inca on their kings. In no language, 
except the Celtic, is the root of this word to be 
found. The roots of it are ion, " a lord," and cean, 
" a head/' the very roots of the Saxon word cyng, 
of the German konigh, and of the English king. 
The word king is formed from cean and ion of 
the Celtic, cean, "a head," and ion, " a lord," that 
is, the head high lord. Inca, or Incdn, is merely 
the same roots reversed, that is, ion-cean, ''the 
lord-head." The title, Kan y of the Persian, and 
Arabic, and other languages, comesfrom this word 
cean of the Celtic. In Ireland there is the word 
Ri-in-ca as applied to certain localities, such as 
the plain of the Ri-in-ca, the valley of the Ri-in- 
ca, the town of the Ri-in-ca. The word is popu- 
larly and commonly confounded with rinceadh, 
" a dance," which it resembles in the pronuncia- 
tion. But " the town or plain of the dance" is an 
absurd expression. The real meaning of it is 
that the town or plain belonged to, or was, by 
residence or burial, connected with a Danish king 
whose title among his people was Ri-in-ca, the 
king, high lord, head, from ri, a "king "ion, "lord," 
and cean, "a head." Not far from Youghal is a 



NOTES. 



259 



place called Insce-an-ri-in-ca, " the river-land of 
the Ri-in-ca" and the presence of a series of 
strong Danish forts in the neighbourhood still 
testifies that the Northman once held sway there. 
Near Castlemartyr is a place called Clais- 
an-Ri-in-ca (the cave of the Ri-in-ca), and not 
long since there, in a deep fissure of the rock, 
were discovered the remains of the body of some 
great personage who had been buried, with orna- 
ments of gold. All these circumstances indicate 
that the name of Inca among the original tribes 
of America was derived from the Celtic. 

Words of the Celtic are found in all countries, 
in India, America, and even in New Zealand, such 
as magh, " a plain," rath, " a fort," ou, " a river," 
beal y "a mouth,"or gap, ///<m?, "a country," ben> 
hillock," ren, "a promontory," lock, a " lake," cahir 
(Cairo), "a city,' 1 ' tullagh, " a declivity" or "height," 
mota, (< a mound," muis (formed from magh and 
uisg), " a wet country." The Celtic has only two 
genders, the masculine and feminine, like the 
Hebrew and Sanskrit, while Greek and Latin, 
and most other languages, have masculine, femi- 
nine, and neuter. 

There is in the Celtic an inexhaustible mine 
for the elucidation of language. It is much to 
be regretted that the first compilers of the 
Greek and Latin dictionaries, and also of 
those in English and other languages, 
were so little acquainted with the Celtic, as, 
otherwise, their great labours would have shed 



260 THE CELTIC LANGUAGE. 



much light on philological science. Even still, 
the dictionaries of derivations are travelling on 
the wrong line. Instead of going to the original 
source for the most familiar words of the English 
language, they are endeavouring to wring them, 
at second hand, from Greek, Latin, French, and 
German. For instance, the homely word " door" 
is by them derived from tliura of the Greek, 
instead of from the root of bother, of the Celtic. 
Will an effort ever be made, understate patron- 
age and support, to remedy this evil while the 
old language still lives ? A most valuable ser- 
vice -could be here rendered to the English 
language and to general literature. 

At one time it was thought that the Hebrew 
was man's original language. Recent investiga- 
tions, however, would appear to place the Sanskrit 
before it. The Sanskrit was the old language 
of India which has ceased to be spoken for 
hundreds of years, and which is now studied 
from books and from the fragments of it that 
remain in the living language of the country. 
It would appear that the name Sanskrits Celtic, 
and means the " old writing/' from sean y " old," 
and sgribhin, " writing." It is sometimes written 
Shanscrit. 

A large proportion of modern philologists 
think that man's original language has perished, 
and that the oldest tongue now known contains 
only fragments of it. Professor Max Miiller is 
of opinion that the word, which represents twenty 



NOTES. 



26l 



in the Sanskrit, in the Greek, and in the Latin, is 
the mutilated fragment of a* lost language, as the 
root of it cannot now be found. The root of it, 
he says, should be two tens or twice ten, and that 
cannot be found in the word in either of these 
languages. In Sanskrit the word " twenty " is 
vinsati, in Greek eikati, and in Latin viginti, the 
three being evidently cognate formations. But 
if he had known the Celtic, he would have easily 
found the roots of the word in it. In the Celtic 
it is fiche or fichid. In the Latin the word was 
originally written figinti, as the letter v in that 
language was adopted only at a comparatively 
late period. Fiche of the Celtic, and figinti of 
the Latin, resemble each other much. But the 
Latin supplies no root of the word itself. Is it 
so with the Celtic ? No ; fiche is formed from 
fe-dko-deick, which means " twice ten," the very 
root which, Max Muller says, must have existed 
in the original lost language. Thus, the Celtic 
supplies the word and the meaning, which could 
not be found elsewhere. 

But it is sometimes asked : How could the 
original language be found in a remote and small 
country like Ireland ? It may be, just with as 
much reason, asked : How could the oak tree, 
and that large animal called the elk, have existed 
there ? This old language exists in Ireland, and 
it gave names to the rivers, lakes, and mountains 
of the country many ages before the foundations 
of the States of Greece and Rome. These names 



262 



THE CELTIC LANGUAGE. 



are continued to the present day, and those who 
understand the old language can easily explain 
their meaning. This is not the case with respect 
to any other country on the face of the earth, 
excepting, perhaps, parts of Scotland and Wales 
where the Celtic language still subsists. In all 
other places, by the change of languages and the 
succession of races, the meaning of the names of 
mountains, rivers, and lakes is involved in im- 
penetrable obscurity. This is a great proof in fa- 
vour of the stability of thelrish language, and its 
antiquity too. Its pronunciation was thrown into 
a uniform mould that has not yet been broken, 
but when once broken, can never be recovered. 
I have been able to converse in Celtic with a 
native of the Highlands of Scotland with greater 
facility than I could in English with a native of 
Yorkshire, in England. But that which was the 
refuge and defence of this old Celtic language 
is now likely to be soon demolished by the 
facilities of travelling, by the intercourse of 
nations, and by the introduction of new lingual 
elements. The natural barriers of distance and 
retirement, which are now so invaded, were its 
great protection in this country for thousands of 
years, and, instead of being unfavourable to its 
claims as an original language, they supply the 
key to its great antiquity. The causes which 
have produced about nine hundred languages 
and dialects in the world, were not operating in 
Ireland. It is not so now. 



263 



THE DRUIDS. 

"A necessary part of their personal outfit," 
p. 2. — Ovid, who was for some time in exile 
among them, thus writes of their warlike ap- 
pearance : — Vox fera, trux vultus, verissima 
Martis imago — " Their voice is fierce, their 
countenance stern and savage, the very image of 
the god of war." 

" The name Scuit, ' Scots,' " p. 2. — They are 
called Skuthai by Greek writers. 

" The Celestials or Celts," p. 7. — The Tartars 
are called by the Chinese historians Ta-Ta, as 
they were descended from Ta-Ta. This claimed 
for them a celestial origin, as Ta in the Celtic 
language means God. The Spartans believed 
that they were descended from Hercules. The 
name Hercules appears to be formed from the 
Celtic words ior-celleach, which means the " lord 
celestial." 

" The Phoenician was a near relative of the 
Hebrew," p. 9. — " The ancient language of Phoe- 
nicia," says Max Muller, "to judge from inscrip- 
tions, was most closely allied to the Hebrew, and 
the language of the Carthaginians too must be 
referred to the same branch." 

"And of whom they entertain similar notions," 
p. 11. — In the Persian language the names of 
God mean Is or " Being." 



264 



THE DRUIDS. 



" At the appointed time fire was applied to 
the structure," p. 18. — It was, probably, this 
practice of roasting human beings in sacrifice 
that led some ancient Greek writers to believe 
that the early inhabitants of Ireland were canni- 
bals. The Greeks generally applied the terms 
milk-eaters, horse-eaters, and man-eaters, to 
different tribes of the old Scythians. Perhaps 
they thought the Irish were descended from the 
man-eaters, anthopophagi, the worst class of 
those whom they called terrible barbarians. 

" In which were two or three openings or 
passages," p. 23. — In the large Druidical circle 
at Avebury in England were two openings, which 
consisted of two avenues a mile long, lined on 
each side with rows of large stones. One passage 
is on the west side of the circle, the other on the 
south. The worshippers, probably, entered 
through the west and came out by the south 
passage. " The remains," says a modern writer, 
" found at this place beneath the grass, suggest 
sacrifice, and point to various tokens of high 
antiquity." 

" Ior-radh, 'speaking to God — prayer,'" p. 28. 
— From this comes the exclamation " Hurrah," 
which means a wish, a joy, or an encouragement 
at the beginning or end of an action. Among 
English-speaking persons it is corrupted into 
" hurreh." In Germany, an old Scythian or Celtic 
country, it is still uttered " Hurrah," just as it 



NOTES. 



265 



rang defiantly, many centuries ago, in the ears 
of the invading Roman legions. 

The Persian, or Indian word, gabhra, "fire- 
worshipper," owes a component part to this tor- 
radh, " adoration," of the Celtic. Gabhra is 
formed from gath, " a ray," or " beam of light," 
and adhradh, "adoration." From Gabhra comes 
Giaour, " fire-worshipper," of the Arabic. The 
eighteen different languages of India contain 
fragments of the Celtic. From thane, "a country," 
of the Celtic, comes tan or start, so common in 
the names of places in India. 

"Near Mitchelstown," p. 32. — Here was a 
Druidical temple or circle, of which five pillar 
stones are still standing. Altars and stones, 
similar to those in Ireland, have been found in 
India and in America. The popular Irish name 
of a Druidical circle is Cuairt an Droi, " the circle 
of the Druid." 

" It was there the local chief or king was 
solemnly installed," p. 36. — In some places these 
chiefs or princes were installed on large inaugu- 
ration stones. Such was the case in Tirconnell, 
where the O'Donnell chief was solemnly in- 
augurated on a stone in which were cut the foot- 
prints of the first of his race or clan who had 
been installed on it. He stood in the same 
foot-prints, and swore to be faithful to his people, 
In Christian times the ceremony was conducted 
under the direction of the local priest, who 



266 



THE DRUIDS. 



handed the chief a white, straight, and unknotted 
rod, the emblem of purity, justice, and impar- 
tiality. In more ancient times he received it 
from the Druid. 

" Dalian," p. 38. — Dalian and Liaba are pre- 
historic monuments, and the Celtic language, 
which is the only one that explains the meaning 
of these names, must be regarded as pre-historic 
too. 

" By the stone of St. Patrick at Cashel." p. 40. 
— After the introduction of Christianity, the 
people swore on sacred Christian objects, such as 
the Mass-books, the croziers of bishops and 
abbots, and on reliquaries containing copies of 
portions of the Holy Scriptures. 

"A cave or burying-place," p. 43. — Or, per- 
haps, Eiig-uaimh y " the cave of death." It is a 
curious fact that the word otim, formed of three 
letters, is the symbol of the Trinity of the Brah- 
mins of India. Could the Ogham (oum), or secret 
and mystical writing of the Druids, have any 
connexion with it ? 

" When man first cut a scar or notch," p. 44. — 
This was the first kind of writing. Hence the 
Celtic word sgriobh, " to write," from which comes 
scribo of the Latin, means to " scrape " or " scar." 
Grapho, " to write," of the Greek, also comes 
from grafaim, " to scrape," of the Celtic. The 
pillar- writing of the Ogham exhibits this to 
perfection. 



NOTES. 



267 



"Lia-fail, 'the stone of the king/" p. 47. — One 
of Ireland's names is Inis-fail, the " Island of the 
King," and the beautiful island of Inisfallen, in 
Killarney, is Inis-fail-lein, the " Island of the 
King " of (loch) Lane. 

" There fixed must be your throne," p. 51. — 
Sir Walter Scott has given a version thus : — 

"Unless the Fates are faithless grown, 
And Prophet's voice be vain, 
Where'er is found this sacred Stone, 
The Scottish race shall reign." 

We'll try it ourselves : — % 

Where, ancient noble Scottish race ! 
The old King's Stone you find, 
1 You there your certain throne shall place, 
Or, Prophecy is blind ! 

" Fiadh also means 'deer,'" p. 52. — The red 
deer were very numerous on the mountains and 
coarse lands of Ireland before fire-arms were in- 
vented and used in their destruction. 

" But whatever were the ingredients, whether 
corn, heath, or both," p. 58. — It appears that the 
Celtic ale was produced from steeped grain, 
made to germinate, infused in a certain 
quantity of water and fermented. To this, in 
Ireland, was added some heath of a certain 
species, age, and growth, to obtain the qualities 
now perhaps better produced by the exotic hops. 
This ale was the drink of kings, and far more 
wholesome and invigorating than the whiskey 
and champagne of the present day. Mead, a 

O 



268 



THE DRUIDS. 



drink made from honey, was also much used by 
the Celts. 

" Bar-i" p. 59. — The extremity of a place or 
country is called bar-i. Thus, the game of 
hurling or foot-ball is called bar-i, which means 
that the ball is to be sent to the extremity, the 
same as goal. 

" Brigh, a 'hill/ or hillock,' p. 59.— The 
name deire-i, " the end of a country," is also very 
common in Ireland. This is erroneously derived 
from dair, " the oak," as in Derry, Derrynane, 
&c, &c. 

" Entertained by the Celts for fire," p. 60. — The 
Mahommedans of India, who call those of the 
native religion Gabrahs or Giaours, that is, " fire- 
worshippers," think that if their own bodies are 
burned they will never see paradise. Gabrah 
would appear to be a Celtic word formed from 
gadhy "a ray of light," and adkradh, " ado- 
ration." 

"And adorned with valuable ornaments of 
gold," p. 60. — The Scythians had a great respect 
for their dead. When Cyrus demanded their 
submission, threatening that, in case of refusal, 
he would invade their country, their reply was : 
" We would advise you to abandon that inten- 
tion, for we will defend the tombs of our fore- 
fathers." 

" In the Lios and Rath are frequently found 
subterraneous passages," p. 62. — Some are also 



NOTES. 



269 



found frequently in connexion with old castles ; 
and at the present day they are considered of 
much importance in the construction of land 
batteries and coast defences. 

" The rath and the lios" p. 63. — The lios 
and the rath are ascribed to the Danes by the 
popular traditions. Most likely such habitations 
were used by these invaders. Others say they 
were erected by the Tuatha-de-danan, and that 
the popular name, Dane, in connexion with them, 
came from Danan. 

" Art is also a name for God," p. 68. — From 
ar } " destruction," and ta, "god;" the god of 
destruction, that is, Mars. 

" Cleansed and purified by that terrible pro- 
cess," p. 71. — Some light is thrown on this 
subject by the belief prevalent in India at the 
present day, respecting the transmigration of 
souls. If a person once sinks, by his crimes, 
from the human to the brute creation, he must 
pass through many millions of births before he 
can resume the human form again. Then, again, 
he must pass through thousands of births in the 
lower grades of the human form, till at last he 
reaches the highest grade from which, at death, 
he is absorbed into the circle of happiness. 

"Only certain species of them," p. 72. — At the 
present day, in many parts of India, the natives 
will not touch the tame barn-fowl, though they 
will kill and eat the wild cock of the moor and 



27 o 



THE DRUIDS. 



the forest. This is manifestly a remnant of 
Druidism ; and it is a curious fact that in cran- 
nogs and other ancient human habitations, in 
various countries, the bones of the hare, of the 
hen, and the goose, have not been found among 
the remains of animals and shell-fish used for 
food by the original occupiers. 

" The egg or mysterious badge suspended from 
the neck of the Druid," p. 76. — The Egyptian 
priests wore a jewel on which was written " truth." 

It would seem that a class of variegated round 
stones, preserved in Ireland from time imme- 
morial, had some connexion with the Druid's 
badge, and, perhaps, also with the Egyptian 
jewel. They are of the size of a small apple, 
and of a strong colour in various shades. The 
number of them at present is very limited, not 
more than two to be found in a whole province, 
and in some not one at all. Great medicinal 
qualities and strange powers have, from the 
earliest times, been ascribed to them. They have, 
in Irish, the name of Clock Omra, " the amber 
stone," though the substance is doubtful. They 
are manifestly of the same family as the " amber 
stones," and " ambrosial stones," which were 
held in such high reputation by the Persians, the 
Greeks, Romans, Arabs, and the early tribes of 
northern Europe. The strong or bright colour, 
or the latent vh'tue, was supposed to include 
something celestial and divine, and the use, or 



NOTES. 



271 



the possession, of one of them was believed to 
cure diseases, to avert dangers, and ensure suc- 
cess even in the most perilous and desperate 
undertakings. The incredulous, who had not 
much confidence in their mystical power, often 
admitted tfieir potency, which they ascribed to 
the medicinal qualities, especially the strong 
electricity (amber) inherent in them. One of 
these Irish stones, of which the origin is unknown, 
has been preserved for centuries in the family of 
the Geraldines, of Imokilly, in the county of 
Cork. 

" Often founded on these emblems the most 
extravagant stories," p. 82. — For instance, among 
the numerous legends respecting St. Patrick, one 
says that it was through the region of Kerry he 
drove the reptiles into the sea, and that, as a 
memorial of the fact, one monstrous serpent was 
chained at the bottom of Loch Lane in Killarney 
to remain there to the day of judgment, while 
another, its male comrade, was banished to the 
mighty ocean, on the surface of which it is to 
wander to the end of time, and to be often seen 
by mortal eyes in various places, but never to be 
killed or captured. Perhaps this is the famous 
sea-serpent of modern times. 

" The All-heal, was brought home amidst 
shouts of joy," p. 88. — The popular salutation in 
Ireland at Christmas is Go Dtugath Dia Uillig 
mhath dhuit, " May God give you a good Christ- 



272 



THE DRUIDS. 



mas." Could this have originated in Druidism, and 
in reference to the finding of the Uillig, or All-heal ? 

" Under the care of the Druids it was made 
to root in almost every orchard and forest," p. 90. 
— It appears that, since the destruction of the 
primeval forests in Ireland, the mistletoe does 
not grow there naturally. It is now produced 
by artificial culture. 

" And it is said that the words which he ad- 
dressed to them made a deep impression on their 
minds," p. 101. — It is said that it was on this 
occasion, when speaking of the Holy Trinity, he 
pulled up from the green sward the trefoil plant 
to illustrate the subject, and that from this cir- 
cumstance the shamrock has become an emblem 
of Erin. St. Patrick was well able to address 
them in the language of the country, for the 
Celtic was spoken in the part of France of which 
he was a native, and he had also spent seven 
years of captivity, when a boy, in Ireland. 

" Always professed themselves its devoted 
worshippers," p. 106. — The ancient tribes of 
America, especially those of Mexico and Peru, 
were also worshippers of the sun. Even at this 
day, in India, many of the natives fall prostrate 
before the sun in the morning, and also in the 
evening. 

" The large and loose tunic of the Celts," 
p. 130. — The large outer garment was called 
filleadh mor, the inner small garment, filleadh 



NOTES. 



273 



beg. The latter name is still commonly retained 
in Scotland for a part of the national dress. 

" By colour and its various shades, caste, con- 
dition, &c, were marked," p. 130. — This was an 
Eastern custom. We read in Genesis that Joseph 
wore a coat of many colours. Even at this day 
caste and rank among the Hindoos are indi- 
cated by threads of various colours worn in the 
garments. The Irish tunic much resembled that 
worn by Indian chiefs at the present day. 

" Staff of Jesus, or Bachall Josa" p. 108. — 
It was called the Staff of Jesus because, accord- 
ing to the legendary account of its origin, it 
was believed that it had been received from 
Christ himself. As early as the twelfth century 
Giraldus Cambrensis, an English priest who had 
come to Ireland with King John, speaks of it 
as the most remarkable and venerable relic in 
Erin. " Its origin," he says, " is doubtful, but 
not so its virtue by which he meant the mira- 
culous powers commonly ascribed to it. In the 
Tripartite Life of St. Patrick is the legendary 
account of its origin. It is said that before St. 
Patrick went to preach to the Irish he embarked 
with a few companions on board a sailing craft, 
and that they were driven by a storm on an 
unknown island. They sought and obtained 
hospitality in a certain house there. The in- 
mates were persons who, by a special favour 
from Christ himself, had lived for centuries in 



274 



THE DRUIDS. 



that country. An aged-looking woman of the 
family at once recognised Patrick, told him that 
he would go to preach to the Gaedhil, and she 
handed him a staff or crozier which would be the 
badge of his authority. " I have," said she, " re- 
ceived this staff from Christ himself, for when he 
was upon earth, he visited this island ; he fore- 
told that you would arrive here, and he com- 
manded me to keep it till you would come, and 
to hand it to you." She added, that she and 
the other few members of her family would live, 
childless and deathless there, to the day of judg- 
ment. Another account says that it was an 
angel that handed the staff to St. Patrick. 
Whatever was the origin of the staff, it was the 
companion of the Saint for many years, and, 
probably, the actual support of his wearied and 
feeble frame on many along and rugged journey. 
From the descendants of those whom he had 
converted to the faith, these circumstances secured 
for the relic great love and veneration. It was 
encased in a costly frame, or cover, ornamented 
with precious stones and metals. On it coven- 
ants were ratified, and solemn oaths made. It 
was for ages the badge of the successors of St. 
Patrick in the See of Armagh. In the year 
1 1 80, it was brought from Armagh to Dublin 
by William FitzAldhelm, and deposited in the 
Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity. There 
it remained, still an object of love and venera- 



NOTES. 



2;s 



tion, till the year 1538, when it was publicly 
burned by the wretched agents whom Henry 
VIII. employed to introduce changes in religion. 
The vandal act created an intense feeling of 
indignation in Ireland. 

" For he used noble language/' p. 115. — Or, 
more probably, from bar, "a learned man," and 
dan, "poetry." 

"And ic, 'death,'" p. 126. — Or, perhaps, from 
ar, "destruction or slain," and ic, "remedy or 
compensation." It was called in ancient Saxom 
Werh-geld. 

" Colour was an important feature of the 
ancient Celtic costume," p. 130. — The Annals of 
the Four Masters, at the year 3664, state that 
Eochaidh, King of Ireland, was the first to es- 
tablish the variety of colours for the dress, and 
that one colour was made the badge of the slave, 
two of the soldier, three of a goodly hero, or 
young lord of territory, six of the ollav, or man of 
learning, and seven of the king and queen. 
Probably this king only gave new form and 
force to what had been the custom from time 
immemorial. 

" Some derive it from Gomer," p. 136. — Ger- 
many is said to derive its name from the same 
personage." 



3 



2 7 6 



THE ANCIENT CHURCHES OF IRELAND. 



" Ancient buildings, especially the Churches, throw much light 
on the general civilization of their times." — Anonymous. 



" From the east/' p. 144. — The Psalm says : 
" Sing ye to God who mounteth above the 
heaven of heavens, to the east." — lxvii., 34. In 
a very few instances, owing to peculiar circum- 
stances of ground and space, an old church was 
found to be north and south, and it was called 
by the peculiar name of sabhal, which would 
appear to mean " a barn," as St. Patrick had 
received the gift of a large barn so placed, from 
a certain great chief, to be converted into a church. 

" Large stone crosses," p. 151. — In Monaster- 
boice are two finely-sculptured crosses of this 
class, one 16 and the other 18 feet high. A cross, 
15 feet high, stood near the western door of a 
church at Clonmacnois. 

" Undoubtedly wooden and wicker-work edi- 
fices were sometimes used as houses of worship 
here, as well as in other countries," p. 152. — 
A wicker-work church is called in Irish Cill 
Cleithe> the " church of the hurdles." Kilclief, 
in the county of Down, derived its name from 
the existence there of one of these old churches. 
Ccahiir was the name of a church of which 
the walls were made of mud or earth, and 



NOTES. 



277 



the term is now applied to an old structure 
in ruins. 

" Or from cai, i a house/ and ail, a * stone/" 
p. 156. — In Scotland the name of clogach, "a 
house of stone," was sometimes given to a church, 
and it is stated that the name was borrowed from 
the stone-circle of the Druids. In this sense cill-de, 
abbreviated cill, would mean " the stone house of 
God," and kirk would, probably, be cai-erc, " the 
house of the sun," that is, the Druidical circle. 
Cill and kirk mean the same thing. A parish 
in the county of Antrim was indifferently called 
by the name of Kirkinriola and Kilkinriola. 

" Killteskin," p. 157. — It would appear that 
this place was an ancient penitential station, or 
that its church enjoyed some special privileges 
from, perhaps, the time of St. Colman, as thou- 
sands of pilgrims are now, and have been, from 
time immemorial, in the habit of visiting it for 
devotional purposes on the Assumption of the 
Blessed Virgin, and during the octave of that 
festival. 

" Cill Colmain, " the Church of Colman," p. 1 57. 
— Thename Cill-eigk (Killeagh) occurs frequently 
in Ireland. It is commonly thought to mean 
Cil-liath, "the gray church." It means the 
church of Aedh. Aedh, or te Hugh," was a very 
frequent name among the early saints of Ireland , 
A few miles to the west of Youghal is a place of 
the name. It is also called Cill-eigh-cadh, that 



278 



ANCIENT CHURCHES. 



is, " the church of Aedh, the religious." This 
saint was also called Abban, as he was abbot. 
An abbess was called Bean-abb, " the woman- 
abbot," while Abban meant the "Abbot-man." 

A holy well on the east side of this village is 
called Tobar Fearghail, "the well of Feargal," 
or Farrell. It is likely that Aedh was of that 
family, and, perhaps, a native of the place, as some 
ploughlands in the neighbourhood have the name 
of Baile-mhic-eigh y " the bally of the son of Aedh! y 
A small stream near the village is called Abhain- 
eidh-cadh, "the river of Aedh, the religious," and 
it is supposed that it flowed nearer to the site of 
the well than it does at present. 

"The word domhnach has given its modern 
Irish name to Sunday," p. 160. — Something 
similar exists in the French. There, all the week- 
days are called after the Druidical divinities ; but 
Sunday is called Dimanche, " the day of the 
manse," and appears to be formed from Dei 
manstiSy "the house of God." In English and 
German the Druidical name is retained, while in 
Spanish, Italian, and other languages, it is formed 
from the Latin Dominies, " lord," that is, the 
Lord's day. 

"An oratory or hermitage," p. 163. — The Irish 
name of oratory is adhradh-cilly from adhradhy 
"prayer," and rill, "a church." It is commonly 
written and pronounced arriagal, arragell, or 
aireagal. 



NOTES. 



279 



" Struck by lightning," p. 1 64. — Some authorities 
say it was burned, others, struck by lightning. 

"In Lough-dearg," p. 167. — It was called 
Lough-bo-dhearg, that is, " the lough of the red 
cow," from some circumstance now unknown. 

" In which that true Lamb is slain," p. 172. — 
The name of the Lamb was bestowed on the 
Christian sacrifice from the time of the Apostles. 
In an ancient account of the martyrdom of St. 
Andrew, the Apostle, it is stated that, in reply 
to those who asked him to sacrifice to false gods, 
he said: "I offer to the Omnipotent God, who 
is one and true, not the flesh of bulls or the blood 
of goats, but the immaculate Lamb on the altar." 
St. Andrew had preached in Scythia in Europe, 
and afterwards in Epirus and Thrace. Perhaps 
it was from that source this name for the Mass 
reached the Scythians or Scots of Ireland. 

" Circumscribed part of a country," p. 174. — 
Or it may be from balla, " a wall," and i, " a 
country," a walled place, that is fortified. 

"CM Mhnire" p. 174.— This is the name of the 
graveyard in the island of Skye, where the cele- 
brated Flora MacDonald is buried, and where a 
fine Celtic cross has been lately erected to her 
memory. 

"Iona," p. 178. — It appears that it was also 
called Ion-i, " the island of the sun," from Druidi- 
cal times. 

" Churches were left in ruins," p. 180. — In parts 



280 ANCIENT CHURCHES. 

of the country where they were dominant, these 
barbarians demanded what was called nose- 
money, in Irish airgid shroin ; that is, they 
required every head of a family to pay them 
annually an ounce of gold, and, when it was not 
paid, they cut off the nose of the unhappy de- 
faulter. 

" The production of her ancient schools," p. 
182. — An interesting notice of the surviving ma- 
nuscripts is given in a number of a publication 
called " Atlantis." 



28l 

ROUND TOWERS. 



"The Round Towers of Ireland are the most remarkable 
Antiquities in the world ; if we regard the singularity of their 
construction, the obscurity of their origin, and the difficulty of 
assigning the object for which they were built." — Spectator. 

" The masonry of the Towers resembles that 
of the ancient Churches, but is more solid and 
substantial," p. 192. — An idea of the solid and 
durable workmanship of the Round Towers may- 
be formed from what Harris says of the Tower 
of Maghera, in the county of Down, which was 
thrown down by a violent hurricane about the 
year 17 10: — "It lay," he says, "at length and 
entire on the ground, like a huge gun, without 
breaking to pieces, so wonderfully hard and 
binding was the cement in the work." 

"Near the church of Saint Finbarr," p. 195. — A 
Frenchman, named De la Boulaye, who travelled 
in Ireland in 1644, says, that "in one of the 
suburbs of Cork there is an old tower ten or 
twelve feet in diameter, and more than one 
hundred feet high, which they firmly hold to 
have been built by St. Barre." 

"Places of sepulture or mausoleums," p. 197. 
— In India there are towers, about fifty feet in 
diameter, and open at the top, in which dead 
bodies are laid on benches. They are called 
" towers of silence." They somewhat resemble 



282 



ROUND TOWERS. 



the Martello towers of Ireland. But there are, in 
that country, a few towers of a different construc- 
tion, high, and closed at the top. Lord Valentia, 
who travelled there, says : " It is singular there is 
no tradition concerning them, nor are they held 
in any respect by the Hindoos of the country." 
It is quite possible that these were baptisteries. 
The Christian religion was preached with con- 
siderable success at a very early period in Persia 
and India. But in the fourth century, under the 
influence of a half political, half religious perse- 
cution, the work of converting and baptizing the 
natives was obliged to be abandoned. The 
"Veda," the sacred book of India, is a grotesque 
mixture of Druidism and Christianity. Perhaps 
this surmise may lead to some further researches 
on the subject of these towers. 

"The top was then open," p. 194. — The fol- 
lowing notice, however, says it was not : — 

" Nearly opposite the west end of the Cathedral, at a distance 
of thirty yards, stands the beautiful Round Tower of Cloyne. 
Its present height is a little more than a hundred feet ; its 
diameter at the doorway is nine feet two inches, with a thickness 
of wall of three feet eight inches. At the upper floor the diameter 
of the tower is seven feet two inches, with a thickness of wall of 
two feet nine inches. The tower is divided internally into 
storeys by seven offsets taken from the thickness of the wall ; 
so that, drawn in section, the internal line of wall would show a 
zig-zag outline. The tower was originally crowned by the usual 
conical stone roof, which is stated to have been destroyed by 
lightning on the night of the ioth of January, 1749. Bennet 
gives the following description of this storm: — 'A storm of 



NOTES. 



283 



lightning, with thunder, on the night of January 10th, 1749, 
passed through the country in a line from west to east, and, after 
killing some cows in a field south of Cork, struck the Round 
Tower of Cloyne. It first rent the vaulted arch at the top, threw 
down the great bell, together with three galleries, and descending 
perpendicularly to the lowest floor, forced its way, with a violent 
explosion, through one side of the tower, and drove some of the 
stones, which were admirably well jointed, through the roof of 
a neighbouring stable. The door, though secured by a strong 
iron lock, was thrown to the distance of sixty yards, and quite 
shattered to pieces. A few pigeons, that used to roost on the 
top of the steeple, were scorched to death, not a feather of them 
being left unsinged. With the same bad taste which distin- 
guishes all the works of our modern architecture, the vaulted 
stone roof of the tower was never repaired, but the height was 
lowered more than six feet, and a vile battlement, in imitation of 
the worst ^English churches, substituted in its stead. ' Wilkinson, 
treating of the 'Ancient Architecture of Ireland/ p. 71, states 
that ' the material of this tower is reddish- coloured sandstone 
of the country, in good preservation ; much of it is very carefully 
worked to the curvature of the tower with a chisel-pointed 
hammer ; the masonry of the doorway is put together in a 
laboured manner, and finely chiselled, each stone being appa- 
rently worked as it was required ; the stones are flat-bedded and 
of considerable size ;' and, subsequently, he adds, ' that the 
masonry of the doorway is so carefully put together, that a file 
alone would produce such careful work in the present day.'" 

A popular legend says, that when St. Colman 
finished the building of this Tower, he leaped 
from the top of it to Lurrug, a distance of about 
one mile on the west side, and there alighted on 
a large rock, on which he left a deep impression 
of his legs and knees. Do leim se do bharra na 
Cuilchigh air clock na Lurgha — " He leaped 
from the top of the ' Reed-house' on the stone 



284 



ROUND TOWERS. 



of the Shanks." The large rock, having the deep 
impression on it, existed there till about thirty 
years ago, when it was cut up into head or grave- 
stones, by a stone-cutter named David Miles. 
The rock, a huge limestone block, 10 feet long, 
6 feet wide, and 5 deep, rested on a gentle 
elevation of ground, and was, perhaps, a Druidi- 
cal altar, like that of Castlemary near it. It was 
laid east and west. This legend would appear 
to contain an allegory, and to insinuate that St. 
Colman, by the erection of his Church and 
baptistery tower, crushed and extinguished the 
worship of idols in his district. The ploughland 
where this large rock stood is called from it 
Lurrug, that is, the Shank, and the impression on 
the stone was popularly named Liirgha an fhir 
mkoir," the shanks of the big man." From inquiries 
made at the place, among old men who, in their 
youth, had often played round the stone, I was 
able to learn that the impression of the feet 
faced the north-east, and that of the knees the 
south-west, while there was on it also a less deep 
impression of the body, head, and elbows. 

This impression, which appeared to have been 
cut in it with an edged instrument, would be 
against its character as a Druidical altar, for in 
Ireland the chisel was not allowed to touch 
structures of that kind. It is more likely that 
it was an inauguration stone on which the local 
chiefs or princes were solemnly installed. Such 



NOTES. 



285 



stones existed in Ireland with those impressions 
on them. In Tirconnell the chiefs of the O'Don- 
nells were installed on one which had cut on it 
the deep impression of the feet of the first prince 
of their race or clan who had been solemnly in- 
augurated on that stone. This would give to 
the legend about St. Colman a tangible meaning. 

St. Colman was a native of Hy-Lihane, an 
extensive territory included in the diocese of 
Cloyne, and the chief or prince of which resided 
at Castlelyons. He was a son or near relative 
of that chief, and was by blood connected with 
the royal family of Munster. What could be 
more natural than that he should be installed as 
prince-prelate on that old inauguration stone 
and that the popular mind, always fond of won- 
der, would add to it the leap from the tower as 
a golden feather to carry it far ? It is curious 
that a large stone at Ardmore is connected with 
the memory and name of St. Deglan, who was 
a member of the noble family of the Felans of 
Desies. The stone at Ardmore exists there 
still, while the interesting monument at Lurrug 
has fallen a victim to the vulgar vandalism of 
lucre. It is intended to mark the spot where it 
stood by the erection of a stone pillar. 

In immediate proximity to the site of the rock 
of Lurgha is a high hill called Cruachan, a name 
frequently bestowed on those places where the 
ancient Irish enacted and proclaimed their laws. 



286 



ROUND TOWERS. 



The surrounding country is thickly studded with 
raths ; and in the very field where the rock stood 
some large pieces of gold have been found deep 
in the soil. They appeared to be portions of 
the hilts of swords. Graves also have been found 
near the place. A popular tradition says that 
a great battle was fought there. Here it maybe 
stated that Cloy ne was one of the royal residences 
of the Kings of Cashel. 

" Saw the submerged Round Towers of past 
ages shining at the bottom of the lake," p. 196. — 
There is generally a grain of truth in the legend. 
Lough Neagh often overflows its banks, as the 
exit for its waters is very narrow. The reed was 
the model of the Round Tower, and as the reeds 
were here often buried deep in the water, their 
appearance down in the lake might have sug- 
gested the idea or image of those tall structures 
called the reed-houses. 

" The house of the bell," p. 199. — The correct 
name in Irish of a large bell for ringing in a 
church is credh-eil, from credh, " metal," and 
beal y " a mouth." The English word bell comes 
from beat. 

"A reed shaken by the wind," p. 200. — In 
ancient pictures and engravings of St. John the 
Baptist, he is represented with a water-reed in 
his hand. The present theory is the only one 
that pretends to give any reason for the form, and 
shape, and name of the Round Tower, 



NOTES. 



287 



" They are found near the old Episcopal 
Churches," p. 205. — The ancient discipline requir- 
ed that the bishop himself should perform the 
solemn public baptisms, or, at least, that he should 
personally superintend and direct the ceremo- 
nies. — {See Devoti, in the chapter on Baptism). 

" But, perhaps, that present church is only a 
successor of the original sacred structure which 
stood more directly opposite to its reed-house," 
p. 206 — As an illustration of this, it may be 
stated that the present church or cathedral of 
Cloyne, which was erected in the fourteenth cen- 
tury, stands considerably to the south-east of the 
round tower. But in the same grave-yard are 
the ruins of an old structure which the people 
call the oratory or chapel of St. Colman. The 
foundations are now only a foot or two above 
the surface of the ground, and all traces of win- 
dows or doors are gone. This ruin stands due 
east of the Round Tower, and facing its elevated 
door. It is manifestly a fragment of the original 
church, perhaps the chancel, which may owe its 
partial preservation to the fact, that in it, or near 
it, might have been buried the remains of St. 
Colman himself. On the south of this, as usual, 
are the graves of the dead, while many are on 
the north side of the present church, owing to the 
altered position. 

" Holding a lamb in his arms, and a cup in his 
hands," p. 208. — This is conclusive with respect to 



288 



ROUND TOWERS. 



the object for which Brechin Round Tower was 
erected. It demonstrates that it was a baptis- 
tery. There is attached to the old church of 
Clonard, in the county of Meath, a very curious 
and ancient baptismal font. A woodcut illustra- 
tion, and description of the venerable relic, may 
be seen in the Dublin Penny Journal of 1834-5, 
at p. 176. It is formed of limestone or marble, 
and is, on the inside, of the shape of a convex 
demisphere. The outside is an octagon com- 
posed of square panels. On one of these pan- 
els is a representation of St. John the Baptist 
baptizing our Saviour in the river, and pouring 
the water on his head out of a vessel which the 
Saint holds in his right hand. The figures or 
emblems on the Tower of Brechin are exactly 
the same as these, the lamb being a repre- 
sentation of our Saviour, and they indicate, 
beyond doubt, the character of the tower, that 
is, they show it was a baptistery. I have 
in my possession an old Missal, very finely print- 
ed, with excellent illustrations and ornamental 
capital letters. It was printed at Lyons in 1723, 
and the symbolic capitals would appear to be an 
imitation of the illuminated letters of ancient 
manuscript Missals. In it, at page 277, is an 
illustration of St. John the Baptist. He is re- . 
presented there with a lamb, a cup, and a water- 
reed. This coincidence is so striking, that one is 
at once forced to admit that Brechin Round 



NOTES. 



289 



Tower was certainly connected with baptism, and 
that the other Round Towers, though not exhi- 
biting these particular emblems, must have been 
erected for a similar object. 

An ancient Rubric on Baptism recommends 
"for the Baptistery, when it could be conve- 
niently put on it, an image or representation 
of Saint John baptizing Christ" — Roman Ritual. 
It is in the original Latin thus : in eoque (baptis- 
terio) ubi commode fieri potest, depingatur imago 
Sancti Johannis Christum baptizantis. This 
representation of Saint John baptizing Christ has 
never been found on any structure or building 
not connected with Christian baptism. 

Lower down on Brechin Tower are two gro- 
tesque beasts couchant. These are the demons 
" laid" or vanquished by the prayers of exorcism, 
and the graces of the Sacrament. 

" Six and eight were mystic numbers." p. 209. 
— I have not found in any book a satisfactory 
explanation of these numbers or forms, which, in 
many instances, baptismal fonts exhibit even to 
this day. A writer in a London Cyclopaedia 
says that it is very probable that they were 
imitated from some apartment in a Roman bath. 
But from whence did the Roman bath derive 
them ? Probably from the appearance of water- 
plants or reeds, on the stalks of which these sides 
and angles are observed. In that case the early 
Christians might have taken them for their bap- 



290 



ROUND TOWERS. 



tisteries from the original model. But eight and 
six are symbolic numbers of the Holy Scriptures. 
There are the eight beatitudes. And still more 
striking in reference to this subject, is that which 
St. Peter says (1 Epist. iii. 20) : "Eight souls were 
saved by water." In Leviticus, chap. xxiv. 6, it 
is said : " And thou shalt set them six and six, 
one against another, upon the most clean table 
before the Lord." " Six boards for the sides of the 
Tabernacle" are mentioned in Scripture ; " six 
cities for refuge ;" " six lambs for sacrifice," 
&c, &c. In Galatians, chap, v., 22, 23, there 
are enumerated, in the version of the Vulgate, 
twelve fruits of the Holy Ghost. Perhaps these 
were represented by the six sides and six angles 
of the baptistery. Certain it is, that these forms 
and numbers had their peculiar symbolic ex- 
pression. It is only in baptisteries of superior 
ornamentation these octagonal and hexagonal 
forms are usually found, and they are combined 
with the general feature of roundness, which was 
certainly borrowed from the water-reed. 

"The first story of the Round Tower of 
Keneigh, near Bandon, is of the hexagonal 
form," p. 210. — Dr. Petrie, and the others who 
have written on the Round Towers, could not 
make the hexagonal form of the Reed-house of 
Keneigh throw any light on their theories, and 
thus, that striking and important feature is 
passed over by them without any observation. 



NOTES. 



29I 



"The place for baptism," p. 212. — In the 
country about Cloyne, where there is a reed- 
house, the expressions tobar baistheigh, tour bats- 
theigh, " the font of baptism," " the tower of bap- 
tism," are frequently used in the native language 
of the people. 

"These birds have taken their departure," p. 
212. — Mr. Patrick Harrington, who lives near 
the Tower, described to me the manner in which 
these birds were caught, when he was a boy. 
He, and other boys, entered the tower at night, 
and sent some of the party, with a lantern and 
candle, into the lower compartment. The entrance 
through the floor was then covered over with a 
board or coarse cloth to prevent the escape of 
the birds. Thus their capture or destruction in 
the lower compartment was very easy, and often 
a large bag was filled. 

" Received at the religious ceremony a white 
garment," p. 215. — It was an emblem of that 
which is written in the Apocalypse, iii., 4 : " They 
shall walk with me in white ;" and vii., 14: " They 
have made them white in the blood of the Lamb." 

" And a fervent prayer offered up to God in 
their behalf," p. 216. — We learn from Tertullian 
and other early writers, that among the other 
emblematical ceremonies of baptism, the new- 
baptized received milk and honey. These were 
an emblem of the abundance of the graces which 

were received through baptism, and there was a 

P 



292 



ROUND TOWERS. 



special blessing for these symbolical gifts in the 
baptismal ceremony. In some places were given 
to them milk and wine, which were also a 
scriptural emblem of abundance. As traces of 
this custom were found in Ireland, Ledwich, on 
the authority of some ill-informed English monk, 
makes the monstrous assertion that the rich 
Irish baptized their children in milk, while the 
children of the poorer classes were baptized in 
water. 

"Or end of the Pasch," p. 216. — Tertullian, 
who lived in the third century, says that bap- 
tisms were performed from Easter to Pentecost, 
but that, in case of necessity, they could be per- 
formed at any period of the year, 

" Together with broken pieces of pottery/' p. 
216. — Human bones have been, in some instances, 
found deep in the earth in the lower compartment 
of the towers. Cemeteries were, from the earliest 
periods, attached to the old churches. As the 
towers were built near the churches, their foun- 
dations were often laid on a portion of the grave- 
yard, and thus human remains were sometimes 
included within their walls, sometimes in a dis- 
ordered and broken state, as if they had been 
thrown in at the cutting of the foundation. These 
appearances presented themselves at the exca- 
vations made in the towers of Roscrea, Drumbo, 
and other places. 

" On the days appointed for women, these 



NOTES. 293 

were accompanied to the place by their female 
friends," p. 217. — St. Epiphanius, who lived in 
the fourth century, says that certain religious 
women, called deaconesses, often attended on 
them on such occasions. 

" That the cardinal points had an allegorical 
meaning in reference to baptism is certain/' 
p. 219. — The Canonist Devoti says: " When 
the solemn day for the baptisms arrived, the 
catechumens were conducted to the baptistery, 
which was generally a place distinct and sepa- 
rate from the church, and there three things 
took place before they received baptism. First, 
turning their faces to the west, they renounce 
Satan, his works, and his pomps. Secondly, 
with their faces turned to the east, they pro- 
fessed their allegiance to Christ, and promised to 
be faithful to death. Thirdly, raising their* eyes 
and hands to heaven, they made a solemn pro- 
fession of faith." — Chapter on Baptism. 

The east and the west had a symbolical mean- 
ing. St. Cyril of Jerusalem, who lived in the fourth 
century, says that to face the west was facing 
Satan, who is the prince of darkness. St. 
Jerome, who lived in the fourth century, and 
who was a great scholar and traveller, says : 
" First, we renounce him who is in the west, and 
who dies in us with sins ; and then turning to 
the east, we enter into a covenant with the Sun 
of Justice, and promise to be always faithful 



294 



ROUND TOWERS. 



followers of Him." It is here seen how that sin- 
gular feature of the Round Towers, namely, 
the four windows facing the cardinal points, which 
was always a mystery and a puzzle, absolutely 
comes, in the true theory, to throw a light on 
these structures, and materially helps to indicate 
the object for which they were erected. Even 
the darkness of the west, and the light of the 
east, are symbolized in these towers on 
the floor over the fountain where these pro- 
testations were uttered, for there is no door or 
window in that place to the west, the door 
being always in the eastern direction facing the 
church. 

" Molten sea for containing water in the Tem- 
ple of Solomon," p. 220. — The Hebrews often 
called a large collection of water a sea. This 
water was for the purpose of washing the hands 
and feet of the priests w 7 hen they were to enter 
the Temple. It was an expressive emblem of 
baptism, which is the entrance to the church. 

" Through a long course of instruction," p. 
221. — This course was sometimes for three years, 
and sometimes for six months, and sometimes 
for the forty days of Lent, according to circum- 
stances, and the preparation was often made in 
sackcloth and ashes. 

" The lamp of Ireland," p. 222. — Some think 
that this appellation was bestowed on the church 
itself, but it is more likely that it referred to the 



NOTES. 



295 



Round Tower, which is high and large, and had 
six windows at the top, that is, two in addition 
to those facing the cardinal points. 

" Round Towers are found to be built of 
limestone in places where the limestone is of a 
dark or black colour," p. 224. — The Round 
Towers of Drumbo and Kilmacduagh, and some 
others, are built of limestone. The advocates 
of the fire-worship theory say that it- is in the 
lowest close compartment of the Towers the 
sacred fire could have been most conveniently 
kept burning. 

" The Reed-house should approximate, as near 
as possible, to the colour of the living reed," p. 
225. — Architecture, like painting, seeks to re- 
semble, as much as possible, the object which it 
is made to represent. In Dublin a public foun- 
tain, that of Sir Philip Crampton, has placed on 
it a cone twenty feet high, representing a huge 
water-plant. The dim colour of the materials 
composing it is intended to assist in representing 
that object. 

" And thus the dark stone is selected for the 
purpose," p. 225. — The Round Tower of Kildare 
is built up to the door with white granite, and 
with a dark-coloured stone from that to the top. 
Thus, the dark feature of the structure is secured. 
About half way up the tower of Cloyne there 
is an imperfect course of limestone, just as if 
the orthodox stone failed them when they came to 



296 



ROUND TOWERS. 



that point, and that they were induced to use 
a few of the other kind till the proper supply 
would reach them. The memorial Round Tower 
to O'Connell at Glasnevin, near Dublin, is a 
good imitation of the ancient model ; but it is 
built with a light-coloured granite, and, on that 
account, presents to the eye a striking incon- 
gruity. It has also the door on the west side, 
which is not the case in the ancient Irish models. 
The same, and even much more, can be said 
against the Round Tower erected by Father 
Horgan at Blarney, and in which it was his wish 
to be buried, though his remains now repose in 
the chapel near it. 

" In the west about that time, or a little later, 
baptism, by infusion, began generally to be ad- 
ministered/' p. 229. — The Roman Ritual sup- 
poses, however, that baptism, by immersion, still 
continues to be practised in some churches, for 
the following is a Rubric on the subject : — " In 
churches where baptism is performed by immer- 
sion of the whole body, or of the head only, the 
priest takes the person by the arms, near the 
shoulder, and, the upper part of the body being 
naked, whilst the lower parts are decently covered, 
he immerses him, or his head, three times in the 
water, saying, at the same time, ' I baptize thee 
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 
of the Holy Ghost,' " There is documentary evi- 
dence to show that in England infants were bap- 



NOTES. 



297 



tized by immersion up to the fourteenth century. 
The same was probably the case in Ireland. A 
fine old baptismal font, belonging to the ancient 
church that stood on the beach or sea-shore at 
Rostellan, is now preserved in the castle hall of 
Rostellan. It is large enough to baptize a child 
by immersion, and in its oblong, or oval form, 
would seem to have been designed for that pur- 
pose. The immersion of the body into the water, 
and the raising of it again, says St. Ambrose, are 
emblematical of the burial and resurrection of 
Jesus Christ, while the triple immersion is expres- 
sive of our belief in the Holy Trinity. 

In the Greek, or Eastern Church, baptism is, 
and always has been, performed by immersion. 
Pitzipios says that the Greek clergy of Constan- 
tinople admit the validity of baptism by infusion 
only in case of necessity, when the state of the 
health of the person would not permit it to be 
performed by immersion. In any other case they 
would consider it invalid. Hence it follows, that 
they-would re-baptize such a person, and even 
re-ordain him if he were a priest, as, according 
to their views, he could not have been validly 
ordained, as he had not been validly baptized. 
The Eastern clergy of Russia and other places 
do not give to the rule that rigorous application. 

''The Order of the Mass," p. 234. — It is much 
the same as the Order that was used in Spain in 
the fifth century. In that part of the Creed which 



298 



ROUND TOWERS. 



says, " Who proceeds from the Father and the 
Son/' the words " and the Son," did not belong 
to the original- text, as ftlioque was manifestly 
inserted in it by a subsequent hand. This in 
itself is a proof of the great antiquity of the 
manuscript. The filioque commenced to be added 
to the Creed in various countries of the West 
about the fifth and sixth centuries. 

The prayer for the dead is very peculiar. It 
commemorates all the Scots — et omnium qvoque 
Scotorum. 

" He goes down into the compartment where 
the font was," p. 235. — In many places these 
fonts, or baths for immersion, were cut out of the 
solid stone and ornamented with appropriate 
carving. They were also frequently of wood. 
It is likely that in Ireland they were made of 
planks of timber joined together, and, perhaps, 
also formed of the large trunks of trees scooped 
out in the manner of ancient canoes. The bog- 
oak would have answered very well for the pur- 
pose. They were, probably, seven or eight feet 
long, a foot deep, and about a foot and a half 
wide, with a plug-hole in the bottom or under 
plank for letting out the water, as in many of 
the more modern stone fonts still existing. 

" The ceremony of washing the feet," p. 236. — 
St. Augustine, a native of Africa, and bishop of 
Hippo, in that country, in the fourth century, 
alludes to this ceremony in his exhortation to the 



NOTES. 



299 



catechumens, where he enumerates the various 
ceremonies used at Baptism. " All the sacred 
rites," he says, " which have been performed, and 
are performed in you by the ministry of the 
servants of God, in exorcisms, in prayers, in spi- 
ritual hymns, in insufflations, in sackcloth, in the 
inclination of the neck, in the humility of the 
feet" (Jiumilitate pedum). In some churches the 
washing of the feet took place before the baptis- 
mal immersion, in others after it. It certainly 
took place after it in Milan and in Ireland. 

Here, apart from any other argument, the 
question naturally presents itself — If in the early 
ages of Christianity it was the custom to perform 
solemn baptisms in buildings distinct and sepa- 
rated from the churches, why was it not also the 
practice in Ireland ? Ireland was early convert- 
ed to the faith, and was renowned among the 
nations for her piety, enlightenment, and zeal, 
when these baptismal structures, and the striking 
ceremonial observed in them, were a general in- 
stitution of Christendom. Was she, who sent 
her missionaries to foreign lands to plant the 
faith and to baptize, altogether without those 
structures in which solemn baptism was generally 
administered ? It could not be. And if she had 
those structures, where are they ? or where are 
even their ruins ? Her ancient churches are 
seen in their ruins, and often in a state of wonder- 
ful preservation. Where are her baptisteries ? 

?2 



300 



ROUND TOWERS. 



Surely the country which preserved the churches 
with a religious care, and whose people are 
reluctant to injure even the rath or the stone- 
circle of the Druid, would not have obliter- 
ated all vestiges of the places where her early 
converts would have been baptized in the 
faith. Nor has she done so. Near the early 
episcopal or cathedral churches, where the bap- 
tistery might be naturally looked for, stand the 
tall and graceful reed-houses, whose very name 
suggests a connexion with baptism, and of which 
every feature and circumstance tend to show that 
they belong to the class of buildings which it is 
known were erected in other lands for that im- 
portant object. And as they have been the ad- 
miration of ages, even when their object was not 
known, so are they now, when identified, a 
credit to the religious energy and early Christian 
civilization of Ireland. Their number proclaims 
the universality, their uniform model the unity, 
of the faith in those early ages. They are the 
history of an enlightened ancient Christianity 
written in stone. 



OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 



The Guernsey Mail and Telegraph. 

The erudite author of this volume has done a valuable service 
to literature by his archaeological researches. The Round Towers 
of Ireland have puzzled antiquarians for a century past, and one 
theory after another has been put forth, and supported by plausible 
reasoning. They were the temples of the fire-worshippers, ac- 
cording to some; places of sepulture, observatories, or bell- 
towers, according to others. Erected in a remote age. they have 
withstood " the tooth of time, and razure of oblivion," an unsolved 
problem to those skilled in antiquarian lore. 

On the origin and use of these structures, a new light is thrown 
by Father Smiddy. Recapitulating the various conflicting 
theories which have been hazarded on the subject, he rejects them 
as unsatisfactory and untenable. He wisely abstains from 
entering minutely into the merits or demerits of these theories, 
the majority of which scarcely require refutation. 

Mr. Smiddy divides his Essay into four sections. Chapters 
one and two relate to the Druids ; the third, to the Ancient 
Churches of Ireland ; and the fourth to the Round Towers. In 
entering into the history of Druidism in Ireland, the author 
evinces a thorough knowledge of his subject, which could only 
be acquired by long and patient investigation. As an archaeolo- 
gist and a Celtic scholar, Mr. Smiddy enjoys advantages which 
peculiarly fit him for conducting an antiquarian investigation of 
this nature. Strange to say, Ireland boasts of distinguished an- 
tiquaries who cannot pronounce a word of their country's ancient 
tongue. As Mr. Smiddy justly observes — " Without its assistance 
the subject of the Druids could never be adequately handled, 
the names of the churches would remain a mystery, and the key 



302 



OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 



to the cipher of the Round Tower would lie lost for ever." One 
of the distinguishing features of the Essay is the light thrown 
upon Irish antiquities by philology, and linguistic evidence is of 
the greatest value in establishing disputed or obscure points. We 
quote a paragraph from the concluding chapter, which will illus- 
trate this : — 

" Perhaps, according to our motto, Antiquam exquirite 
matrem, — ' Search out the ancient mother' — the name of the 
Round Tower in the Irish language may throw some light on its 
use and origin. In the Irish Annals and old Chronicles we find 
the names doictheach and doigtheach applied to the Round 
Towers and to other structures. Cloictheach means ' the house 
of stone,' and cloigtheach, 1 the house of the bell,' or belfry. But 
the universal popular name of the Round Tower in Munster, 
Connaught, and other Irish-speaking parts of Ireland is cuilceach 
or cuilctheach. This name is formed from cuitc, 'a reed,' and 
theach, ' a house,' that is the reed-house or reed-shaped structure. 
Thus, the people have always said, with constant unerring 
accuracy, when speaking of these structures, cuilceach Cluina, 
the Round Tower of Cloyne ; cuilceach Colmain, the Round 
Tower of Colman (the patron saint); cuilceach Deaglain, the 
Round Tower of Deaglan (of Ardmore), and so on. Some have 
said that cuilceach is a mere corruption of doigtheach, 'the bell- 
house.' It is no such thing. It is the real, true name of the 
Round Tower in Irish, and is pronounced by the people with 
unmistakable accuracy. " 

The conclusion at which Mr. S middy arrives concerning the 
real character of the Round Towers is, that they were baptisteries. 
In support of the new theory, he adduces amass of evidence col- 
lected from various sources, corroborative of his views. If Mr. 
Smiddy's theory can stand the test of rigid investigation — and 
from a careful examination of his proofs we believe it will — he 
will have the honour of solving a problem which has remained 
intact for probably a thousand years. We cordially commend 
this work to those readers who take an interest in antiquarian 
questions, and who will find in the Rev. R. Smiddy's masterly 
Essay a key to more than one archaeological enigma. 



OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 



303 



Public Opinion, London. 

This interesting essay on a very curious subject, and one about 
which little is known, is sure to become a favourite with anti- 
quarians, while students of etymology will find much that will 
startle them from their conventional and generally accepted 
notions. The reverend author is a thorough Celtic scholar, a 
rarity in these days ; and he naturally refers everything con- 
nected with the ancient history of Ireland to that old tongue, of 
which he writes : — "It was once the speech of a vast number 
of the human race. Probably it was the first language spoken 
by man. At the present day fragments of it are found in most 
countries of the world, even in India, and among the original 
tribes of America. No language has left more extensive traces 
of its existence on the face of Europe than the Celtic. It is 
indelibly engraved there in the names of the rivers, cities, 
lakes, and mountains, as well as in the framework of the modern 
languages;" and, again: — "Without its assistance the subject 
of the Druids could never be adequately handled. The names 
of the Churches would remain a mystery, and the key to the 
cipher of the Round Tower would be lost for ever." Mr. 
S middy's theory of the Round Tower is taken from its Celtic 
name cuilceach or culctheach, formed from cuilc, a reed, and 
tkeach, a house — that is, the reed-house, or reed-shaped structure. 
Now, the reed is an emblem of St. John, and naturally an 
emblem or indication of the water by which it is produced. 
Hence, as Mr. Smiddy argues, "this points to the Round 
Towers as being of that class of structures called Baptisteries, 
which, in the early days of Christianity, were attached to the 
Episcopal Churches, and in which adults of both sexes, as well 
as young persons, were baptized by immersion, and received 
immediately afterwards the sacrament of confirmation from the 
hands of the bishop and this theory the essayist supports by 
citing various facts and circumstances. 



304 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 



The Athenaeum, London. 

The learned author of these little treatises says of the Keltic 
language, that li probably it was the first language spoken by 
man. " This probably is an element, so to speak, which pervades 
the book ; but hot more than it pervades all books on all 
subjects, the solution of which demands a great amount of 
guessing, and is never conclusively solved, after all. Mr. 
S middy is an accomplished antiquary. He can speak as well 
as write the Irish language, but he rides the Keltic hobby with 
a fury that lays his readers and critics breathless on their backs. 
We thought we pretty well knew whence we got the English 
word Church. Mr. Smiddy rides at us with a lance, on whose 
pennon is inscribed the word SiorcalLacht. He pierces us 
through and through with it, to make us remember that the 
word is compounded of two Keltic words, implying a circle and 
the flagstone of death. We can say nothing to the contrary. 
When he adds, that it is from this word Siorcalleacht that the 
English word Church is probably derived, we feel a little in the 
condition of the sailor who, being blown up while looking at 
Punch, and finding himself none the worse for it, expressed his 
wonder as to " what the fellow would do next !" Mr. Smiddy 
does not tire of creating such surprises. He tells us that " the 
word Yule has puzzled all the antiquaries of England and 
Scotland, and they have given it up in despair," which we 
were not aware of. Its meaning, he tells us, is All-heal, and 
if you are clever you may pick the word out of Irish for " Yule- 
log," which is, Bloc-na-nuadh-uile-iceadh, — a word which, like 
Moore's endless Greek word, ought to be only said upon holi- 
days, when one has nothing else to do. The attempt to pro- 
nounce it would certainly spoil the holiday. In English, it 
means the log of the new All Heal. The French word for 
Christmas, Nolo, Mr. Smiddy derives from nuadh-uile, abbre- 
viated No-ule, or All Heal. Etymologists will read Mr. Smiddy 's 
book with interest, antiquaries with curiosity, the public with 
respect. 



OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 305 



The Cork Constitution. 
Mr. Smiddy has divided his book into three sections. The 
first treats of the Druids. The history, religious rites and cere- 
monies and doctrines of this ancient sect the author traces out 
with considerable research, which shows a minute acquaintance 
with the structure and analysis of the Irish language. The word 
Druid, he tells us, is formed from the Irish Draoi, which is 
believed to be a compound of the word dair, "oak," and at, 
" learned or wise." That is, the learned or wise man of the 
oak. This agrees with the derivation given by the learned Dr. 
Charles O'Connor, who says (Rerum Hib. Scriptores) that the 
Celtic word Dura, "an oak," is more ancient than the Greek 
word Dr us. The Persian name Darius, which was familiar with 
the Irish, they substituted for a magician, or wise man : it comes 
from the Hebrew word Daras, " to consult," in the same man- 
ner as quercus, " an oak," from quero. From this word comes 
the name for a certain kind of priests amongst the Turks called 
Derwis, and hence, perhaps, the Rabins called the Tree of the 
Knowledge of Good and Evil He-Dar. Mr. Smiddy enters into 
some elaborate details regarding the structure of their temples. 
Rostellan, on our own harbour, he tells us, is derived from rus, 
"a plain," and dallan " the god-stone," and near it is a Druidical 
altar at Castlemary, which is called Bohur-na-bo-jinne, "the 
road of the white cow some traces of which still linger in the 
language of the people. As regards the mistletoe, the reader 
will find a very interesting passage from Pliny (p. 88), followed 
by some quotations from Virgil, bearing on the subject. At 
p. 93 we have a Celtic root for the old English word Noel, which 
is still a common sirname, and was said to signify " good news." 
The learned author derives it from No-ule, an abbreviation of a 
Celtic term meaning new all heal." The Bealtinne, or fire of 
Beal, which is still perpetuated on St. John's eve on the hill tops 
all round our own city, is probably one of the most ancient cus- 
toms still observed in Ireland. Those who wish to cultivate an 
extensive acquaintance with Celtic roots will do well to peruse 
this part of the work. 



306 



OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 



The Ancient Churches constitute the second branch. Under 
this head, also, the reader cannot fail to obtain some most inter- 
esting particulars regarding the architectural peculiarities of our 
ancient ecclesiastical structures. 

The third division on the Round Towers must, from the very 
scanty materials which we have regarding them, form an object 
of great interest. It is stated that " there were probably in Ire- 
land at one time more than one hundred of these curious struc- 
tures, of which seventy or eighty now remain in various stages 
of preservation or dilapidation." The following is the theory of 
the author about their origin and the use to which he assigns 
these remarkable buildings. In the Irish Annals, he says, we 
find the names cloictheach and cloigtheach applied to the Round 
Towers and other structures. Cloictheach means " the house of 
stone," cloigtheach " the house of the bell," or belfry ; but the 
universal name for the Round Tower in Munster, Conn aught, 
and other Irish-speaking parts of the island is cuilceach or culc~ 
theach, which is formed oicuilc, *' a reed," and theach, "a house, 
that is the reed house or reed shaped structure, "There is 
growing in the bogs and rivers of Ireland a large kind of cuilc or 
reed with a conical head, which in form and shape resembles the 
lines of the Round Tower, and which, I am sure, was originally 
taken as a model of it." The meaning is as follows : — " The 
reed is an emblem of St. John the Baptist, and naturally an 
emblem of the water by which it is produced. St. John is com- 
pared in the Gospel to a reed shaken by the wind. This points 
to the Round Tower as being of that class of structures called 
Baptisteries, which, in the early days of Christianity, were 
attached to Episcopal Churches. " Further on the author tells 
us that his notice was attracted to this reed on the side of a cliff 
on the harbour of Queenstown, and that its graceful stalk, knotty 
and conical head, formed a perfect model of the Reed house 
(Round Tower), which he had often examined at Ardmore. We 
must here leave the reader to accept or reject this rather fanciful 
theory. At all events, whatever conclusion he may arrive at, he 
will find much to interest and instruct him in this little volume. 
The author has shown considerable scholarship, patient research 



OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 



307 



and a pleasing mode of blending his materials, Every effort to 
illustrate our national antiquities must be hailed with thankful- 
ness, and we have every confidence that while such Irish scholars 
as Mr. Smiddy are to be found amongst us, the day is far 
remote tha will witness the extinction of so ancient and noble a 
language as he has shown the Irish to be. 



The Weekly Register, London. 
We are always ready to welcome any contribution to the his- 
tory of Ireland, a country which we might say beyond any other, 
with the exception of the Holy Land, Greece, and Italy, boasts 
of a past such as none can afford to ignore. Yet till recent 
times how few there were that deemed these records worth 
searching into, or cared to think of in any other light than that 
of a land whose people sat in all the palpable darkness of Popish 
error and superstition ! Thanks, however, to the exertions, but 
badly rewarded, of a few whose care was not to win gold or 
renown, but to redeem their country from the reproach so often 
cast upon her, it has been shown that not only was she not with- 
out an history, but that her history proved her to have been 
the civilizer of a large portion of the nations of Europe, their 
instructress in learning, and, above all, their nursing mother and 
mistress in the ways of Christ. And year by year their desire 
ripened to prove this to the world, till, thanks to the labours of 
such men as Petrie, and many others whose fame is well known 
to our readers, the achievements of Irishmen in olden times, the 
wonders of their works, and the glories of their ancient learning 
and religion were declared unto all men. Now hardly a month 
passes that fresh contributions to this store of antiquarian know- 
ledge are not poured forth into the common stock, some deeply 
learned, some popular in their treatment of their subject, some 
in regular set treatises, other in the columns even of the poor local 
papers, which thereby set an example to many even of the best 
provincial papers in England. To this school of literature Mr. 
Smiddy has furnished his quota in the work whose title stands 
at the head of our notice. His Essay has evidently been the 



308 



OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 



result of considerable study and of no little inquiry. As we read 
it, we were struck by the author's intimate knowledge of his 
subject, a knowledge only attainable by means of an accurate 
acquaintance with the Celtic tongue, both written and spoken. 
Indeed, the writer's devotion to the Irish language rises to such 
a pitch of enthusiasm as to cause him to express his belief that 
it was the * ' first language spoken of man." Indeed, so strongly 
does the author insist upon this point that we imagine he would 
not be slow to enforce it in the words of the rhyme that 

When lovely Eve, in beauty's bloom, 

First met fond Adam's view, 
The first words that he spoke to her 

Were, "Go ! ge, mar tha u ?" 

Be this as it may. and we do not endorse the opinion, there 
is no doubt of the extreme antiquity of the language, as is proved 
by the extensive traces of its existence which it has left over the 
whole of Europe, and even America, where words of an un- 
doubted Celtic origin have been discovered amongst the abori- 
ginal tribes. Its influence is, perhaps, most discernible in the 
names given to the natural objects, and in the great key- words 
which form the frame-work of modern language. Mr. Smiddy 
would even derive the name of Imperial Rome herself from the 
same source. 

"In the Celtic language Ruimineach means a swamp, or 
marsh, a feature which, certainly, ancient Rome exhibited, and 
of which there remain clear traces to this day. - 

The old tongue, the tongue of the Bards and the Druids, is 
rapidly dying out, to the shame of Ireland be it spoken, and but 
for the labours of such men as our author and others, the sub- 
ject of the Druids could never be accurately handled. "The 
names of the churches would remain a mystery, and the key to 
the cipher of the Round Tower would be lost forever." We, 
therefore, cannot be too thankful to those who, like Mr. Smiddy, 
have done, and well done, their best to rescue the antiquities 
of their country from the oblivion to which it had been for years 
the fashion to consign them. 



OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 309 



The book before us deals most thoroughly with its subject. 
The first two chapters are entirely given up to the Druids, and 
contain a full history of their origin, their customs, their lan- 
guage, and their religious system. From them will be gained much 
valuable information as to the Ogham (eo, " a grave or monu- 
ment," and uaimh, " a cave or burying place") or sepulchral 
monument, " inscribed with its mysterious vertical and horizon- 
tal straight lines, a Druidical feature which descended to the 
sepulchral monuments of early Christian times." But we must 
protest against the free and easy way in which Mr. Smiddy 
knocks on the head our old theories as to sundry derivations. 
Granting, for the sake of peace, that the name Scot (Scythian), 
was derived from sciot, " an arrow or dart," as part of the 
necessary outfit of every noble of the period, or that Celt 
means "fire-worshippers" (which it does not, but Ci woodsmen"), 
from cealtach, a person of the heavens (ceal), we must decline to 
derive temple {teampal) u from the word timcheal or tio?nchal, 
which means 'round'" when we can fall back on the obvious 
root T€fM 4 'to cut off," making temple a portion cut off for 
sacred purposes. Nor can we surrender the Greek House of God \ 
Saxon cearc, Scotch kirk, English church, for Mr. Smiddy's 
siorcal or siorcalleacht, the circulus or kvkXos of the Latin and 
Greek, simply because Druidical worshipping places were 
encompassed by oaks or surrounded by stones, as at Stonehenge. 
The third chapter on " The Ancient Churches of Ireland," will 
be eagerly read by those whose bent lies in the direction of 
ecclesiastical archaeology, and we venture to say that after a 
perusal of Mr. Smiddy's treatise on the subject they will find 
that they have added no inconsiderable amount to their previous 
knowledge, whilst those who were aforetimes ignorant will have 
learned all that is necessary to know to enable them to be apt 
ciceroni to their friends in their walks about Ireland, where it is 
hardly possible to stroll out for ever so short a distance without 
stumbling upon some old ruin whose masonry and style of 
architecture take the observer back to the days of the Culdee 
(Colideus or "vassal of God.") On the subject of the Round 
Towers Mr. Smiddy will not away with any other theory than 



310 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 

that they were Christian and Baptisteries. His arguments are 
at least ingenious. Their old Celtic name was not cloictheach or 
cloigtheach, " the house of stone" or "the house of the bell," 
but cuilceach or culctheach, from cuile " a reed," and theach 
"an house, This, he says, is the " universal popular name of 
the Round Tower in Munster, Connaught, and other Irish- 
speaking parts of Ireland." A reed with a conical head like 
that of the Round Tower grows in the bogs and rivers, a model 
evidently followed in their construction, as their round shaft 
and conical top prove ; but St. John the Baptist's emblem is a 
reed, and a reed is the emblem or indication of the water by 
which it is produced. Again, the Irish Round Towers answer 
in every way to the description of the old baptisteries, as at St. 
John Lateran, Florence, Ravenna, and other places. They were 
always (?) attached to Cathedral churches, or those of mitred 
abbots, and on them as on the others also appeared an image 
of St. John Baptist, or a Lamb, or both, in evident allusion to 
St. John the Baptist when baptizing in Bethania, having pointed 
out our Lord as the Lamb of God. The ancient baptisteries were 
hexagonal or octagonal, so is the Round Tower of Keneigh, 
near Bandon, in the county Cork. These are some of the direct 
proofs by which Mr. Smiddy works out the truth of his theory. 
He gives us many others less direct, but still not improbable ; 
and though we may deem some of his arguments somewhat 
far-fetched, still we must admit that not only is his theory 
tenable, but that he has gone very far to prove it. By the 
perusal of Mr. Smiddy 's work we have been at once amused and 
edified, a lot which we trust will be that of many other readers. 



The Saturday Review, London. 

After Mr. Rust we take kindly to our Irish friend ; he is so 
charmingly simple, and moreover he does know that the "eccle- 
siastical turres" of his country are " ecclesiastical turres," though 
he funnily fancies them to be baptisteries and not belfries. Mr. 



OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 3 I I 



Rust might very likely scorn Mr. Smiddy as a benighted Papist, 
but the benighted Papist has thus far the advantage. He has 
no interest in making out the works of the early saints to be any- 
thing but the works of the early saints. And, odd as it is to 
think that the Round Towers were baptisteries, it is much better 
than to think that they were Buddhist or Phoenician temples. 
The argument, we think, is curious. It seems that, besides the 
name theach, or belfry, the Round Towers are in some parts of 
Ireland called cuilccach, or culctheack, which Mr. Smiddy 
explains reed-house, certainly no bad name for a tall slender 
Round Tower. 



The Month, London. 

The Rev. R. Smiddy has published a very learned and a very 
lucid Essay on the Druids, the Ancient Churches, and the Round 
Towers of Ireland (Dublin, W. B. Kelly). He has compressed 
into the first two chapters a very exhaustive account of the Druids, 
ending with their conversion by the Christian missionaries. The 
third chapter explains the Ancient Irish Churches, their resem- 
blance to those of Greece, and the meaning of many popular 
names connected with religion, as those by which penances, the 
Mass, and the like are known. The last chapter is devoted to 
the Round Towers, which, as Mr. Smiddy shows, were meant to 
be baptisteries, and owed their form to a desire to imitate the 
reed. The popular name in Ireland for them means "reed- 
house." The argument is very well put together. 



The Cork Examiner. 

Father Smiddy is a worker among ruins. The things he brings 
to light may not all be of equal value, yet in identifying the 
Round Tower as a primitive Christian baptistery, he has made a 
discovery of some interest, not merely to Ireland, but to the whole 
Christian world. His knowledge of ecclesiastical history and 
Christian archaeology has been of service to the cause of Irish 



312 



OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 



antiquities, and the interest he takes in the antiquities of his native 
land has redounded to the service of Christian archaeology. The 
accounts that remain of the primitive baptistery reveal what the 
Round Tower is, and the Round Jower exhibited what the bap- 
tistery was. We have no doubt regarding Father Smiddy's theory. 
We are convinced that it is correct, and that to him belongs the 
honour of having discovered the real origin of the Round Tower 
Till about a century ago those structures were rarely alluded 
to in books, but during the last hundred years they have attracted 
much attention ; all their peculiar features have been minutely 
noted, every document likely to throw light upon them has been 
diligently studied, excavations even have been made within them 
and around them, and a variety of conjectures have been advanced 
accounting all in vain for their origin. " By many," says Father 
Smiddy, " they have been regarded as works erected under the 
reign of Druidism, and in some way connected with the rites 
and ceremonies of that mysterious system. Some, with Valiancy, 
Dr. Lanigan, O'Brien, Dalton, and Moore, believed that they 
were houses or temples for the Pagan fire worship, or for the 
performance of some ceremonies connected with the old Druidi- 
cal religion. Others, 'with Dr. O'Connor, thought that they were 
used by the Druids as observatories for astronomical purposes. 
Others have said that they were high places used for proclaiming 
by sound, or light, or both, the Druidical festivals ; and others, 
with Windele and Father Horgan, maintained that they were, 
in Pagan times, places of sepulture for distinguished personages. 
All these theories are founded on conjecture, or some facts or 
circumstances from which, undoubtedly, no convincing proof can 
be deduced. 

" There is another large host of writers and antiquaries who 
claim for the Round Towers a Christian origin, and say that they 
were erected for some purpose in connection with the rites and 
practices of the Christian religion. On the particular purpose or 
object, however, for which they were erected, these writers are 
not agreed. Some say they were built by the Danes ; but for 
what use they know not. Others assert that they were used as 
beacons,, or bell-towers (quere, watch-towers) in connection with 



OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 



313 



ancient churches. Lastly, Dr. Petrie, whose essay on the subject 
obtained a prize and gold medal from the Royal Irish Academy, 
maintained that they were intended to serve as belfries, and also 
as keeps, or places of strength, in which the sacred utensils, 
books, relics, and other valuables of the adjoining church were 
preserved, and into which the ecclesiastics to whom they 
belonged could retire for security, in cases of predatory attacks. 

" It would be an almost endless task to examine the grounds 
for these various theories, with a view to their refutation. It is 
only the true theory that can accomplish the work. " 

Having brought all these theories together, Father Smiddy 
evidently considers it needless cruelty to torture them one by one 
to death by reproducing the various arguments that tell against 
them singly, seeing that he can crush them all at once to atoms 
by the weight of the true theory. We, however, think it would 
have made his essay more complete to have inserted a refutation 
of some of the most prominent amongst them. It would at least 
have been instructive to some recent writers who think themselves 
au courant with the times, and yet are ignorant that the belfry 
theory has for some years for good and sufficient reason been 
laid aside by competent Irish Archaeologists. 

The theories which ascribe a Pagan origin to the Round Tower 
are deservedly rejected, because as all the undoubtedly Pagan 
stone structures remaining consist of undrest stone put together 
without mortar or cement, a powerful presumption is created 
that the Round Tower, in the construction of which chiselled 
stone and mortar were used, was not a Pagan structure. 

Besides, the Round Tower is quite unsuited, from one reason 
or other, to every one of the Pagan practices named. Their 
timber floors and stone caps made them unfit for fire-temples. 
Their position sometimes, in deep valleys, as at Glendalough, 
show^s that they were not built as beacon tow r ers or as astronomi- 
cal observatories ; and they bear not the remotest resemblance 
to the undoubtedly Pagan sepulchral monuments scattered over 
the land. Lastly, all such views are utterly opposed to the 
traditions of the people. 

Those who hold that the Round Towers have all been built 



3H 



OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 



since the introduction of Christianity into Ireland, hold at the 
same time that they were built for ecclesiastical purposes. They 
are ever found standing beside the remains or sites of ancient 
churches. Everywhere it is the tradition of the people living 
near them, that they were built for or by " the old saints. " In 
the case of the Round Towers of Kilmacduagh and Antrim tradi- 
tion has preserved even the name of the architect — Gobban Saer. 
Gerald B any, writing in 1185, calls them " ecclesiastical towers, 
which, after the fashion of the country, are slender, high, and 
round." — Topogr. Diet. ii.,c. 9. Further proof has lately come to 
light. The Irish Ecclesiastical Record for May, 1 87 1, in a notice 
of St. Gobban, says: — "I may mention that in the distant 
monastery of St. Paul in Carinthia a manuscript of the eighth 
century preserves a poem in his praise." After mentioning Tuaim 
Inver, it adds : — 

" It was Gobban that erected there 
A black house of penance and a tower ; 
It was through belief in the God of Heaven 
That the choicest towers were built." 

The Record refers us for the original Irish text to Curry's 
"Lectures/' the proof sheets of which, we may remark, were, to 
our personal knowledge, printed off four years ago, though the 
work, we believe, has not yet been published. The testimony of 
the Corinthian manuscript in favour of the ecclesiastical origin of 
the Round Tower having been penned within three centuries of 
St. Patrick's time, and a century after the death of Gobban, 
and a century before the Danish invasion, would of itself suffice 
to narrow the controversy on the origin of the Round Tower 
to the consideration of some purely ecclesiastical objects 
closely connected with belief in the God of Heaven. It was 
not a penitential station, as the poem distinguishes between 
the black house of penance and the tower. Nor was the Round 
Tower erected as a belfry. Dr. Petrie, the patron of the theory 
himself, admitted the Round Tower of Kilmacduagh was built 
by Gobban, about the year 610. And we have seen proof that 
other towers were also built by him. But in Gobban's day there 
was no need of belfries. It is now established that the ancient 



OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 



3'5 



bells of Ireland were of small size, and were hung, if at all, to a 
wall, and were rung from within the church. Large bells were 
not used before the ninth century, if so early, and there is no men- 
tion of a cloigtheach, or Irish belfry, till the middle of the tenth. 

Nor were they erected as "watch towers," and as "keeps," 
into which ecclesiastics could retire with the church valuables for 
security in cases of predatory attacks. It has generally been 
believed that St. Colman MacDuach and the other saints for 
whom Round Towers were built, thought most of the glory of 
God, and the salvation of men, and were not solicitous for their 
own lives, being ready at any moment to lose them for the love 
of Christ. It has been thought, too, that their chief treasures 
were a chalice, probably of tin, a book, and a bell, things of little 
value to any one but to themselves. If they had worldly wealth 
it consisted of cattle — the chief wealth of Ireland at their era, for 
the reception of which, we may remark, no provision seems to 
have been made in the construction of the Round Tower. 

The exigencies, however, of the theory now before us demands 
of us completely to reverse our notions on those points. The 
theory would not stand, unless we were to suppose, contrary to 
history and tradition, and moreover without any proof whatever, 
that the early saints had extraordinary wealth to preserve, when 
they were careful to construct some of the most extraordinary 
structures ever seen. And whatever history or tradition may 
say to the contrary, we are now to suppose that they thought of 
nothing so much as of preserving their own precious lives from 
" predatory attacks." " By their fruits you shall know them," 
and what fruit of their lives is to be compared to the Round 
Tower, the monument, in this theory, of their solicitude to save 
their lives "in cases of predatory attacks." We are further 
invited to suppose, in propping up the theory, that such was the 
solicitude of the early saints for their lives and church valuables, 
that they actually built their watch-towers or keeps centuries in 
advance of the predatory attacks, against which they were 
designed to guard, and which came only with the Danish 
invasion, that dates from the year 795. During the whole period 
from the introduction of Christianity to the Danish invasion, the 

Q 



3l6 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 



persons and possessions of ecclesiastics in Ireland enjoyed an 
almost complete immunity from hostile attacks. But in spite of 
all hitherto assigned for the sake of the keep and watch-tower 
theory, it completely vanishes. Should we stop short from 
moreover supposing that while the saints were ever trying to 
build fortresses, through some fatuity, they never could succeed 
in producing other than Round Towers, structures which afford 
the least possible facilities for defence or attack, as becomes 
manifest to all who examine a complete Round Tower. Should 
any one in time of sudden danger so lose his wits as to seek 
refuge there, he would find himself completely in a trap, where 
he could be starved or smoked to death, or have the tower 
brought down about his ears, without the possibility of his 
making a defence. In fact, it is the singular property of Gobban 
Saer's ecclesiastical tower, that though it looks like a castle, it 
cannot with safety or success be used as such. Churches have 
been turned into fortresses, round towers, we believe, never. 

How different from all this read the words of the ancient 
poem — 

"It was through belief in the God of Heaven 
That the choicest towers were built." 

Faith, we may remark, leads straight to baptism. — " He that 
believeth and is baptized. " What doth hinder me from being 
baptized? And Philip said — "If thou believest with all thy 
heart thou mayest." 

This last theory has found much support of late, probably not 
so much because it seemed thoroughly sound, as because there 
was no other left to fall back upon. It was a last plank to 
a drowning man. 

Seeing that every theory put forward in modern times became 
untenable the moment it overstepped the one established truth 
that the Round Tower is of ecclesiastical origin, Father Smiddy 
seems to have argued that we have no longer before our eyes 
the particular ecclesiastical function for which the Round Tower 
was built. Were it otherwise it would long since have been 
perceived by some one pair of the myriad eyes in search of it. 

It may have become obsolete so early as the nth century, as 



OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 



3'7 



it was then our earliest annalists lived, who are thought not to 
have distinguished between Round Towers and belfries. This 
function, so long disused and forgotten, must, too, have been an 
episcopal function, as the Round Tower is found only in connexion 
with churches anciently presided over by bishops. 

Having gone thus far in advance of previous thinkers, Father 
Smiddy's next step, naturally, was to see whether early ecclesias- 
tical history made mention of any remarkable class of buildings 
erected close to, but separate from, episcopal churches for the 
performance of some very important episcopal function, and 
which buildings, though so used about the date of St. Patrick's 
mission, ceased to be used before the nth century. To this 
question ecclesiastical history answers readily, that for some 
centuries, dating from the reign of Constantine the Great, the 
solemn function of administering baptism, especially on the eves 
of Easter and Pentecost, was reserved to the Bishop, who 
officiated at this ceremony in a building called a baptistery 
situated close to, but altogether separate from, the church. 
These baptisteries continued on the continent to be separated 
from the churches to the end of the sixth century, at which 
time baptismal fonts commenced to be placed in the inner en- 
trance to the church. On the continent, in many instances, the 
deserted baptisteries were converted into churches, under the 
invocation of St. John the Baptist ; but history does not men- 
tion any use to which they were applied in Ireland. Father 
Smiddy compares the form, site, emblems, and other peculiari- 
ties of the ancient baptistery with the well-known features of 
the Round Tower, and finds in all a wonderful similarity between 
the two. Hence his conclusion that the Round Tower was origi- 
nally designed as a baptistery. 

Of course, the Round Tower has to be compared to the 
primitive baptistery itself as presented to us in history and archae- 
ology rather than to the modern or re -modelled structure which 
at present occupies its site. Of genuine baptisteries we are not 
awa v e that one exists at present as built at first, unless we take 
the leaning tower of Pisa to have been one. Its origin, at all 
events, has been as great a puzzle to tourists and Italians as the 
Round Tower has been till now to the Gael. 



3i8 



OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 



Allowance has also to be made for peculiar developments of 
art in an island where civilization was not an offshoot from Rome 
or Greece. Accordingly, on the continent, though many bap- 
tisteries were round, others were hexagonal, and other some octa- 
gonal : while in Ireland all still extant are round, except one at 
Kinneigh, which, singular to say, is hexagonal up to the second 
storey, though round higher up. Finding room for choice be- 
tween three models, the Irish convert of St. Patrick naturally 
selected one in favour of which the national taste had previously 
pronounced, in the construction of lios, rath, and catkair, the 
circular ruins of which so often meet our view. 

Many primitive baptisteries in Gaul and Italy are said to have 
been spacious, having been built before the fall of the Roman 
Empire, when those countries were exceedingly populous, and 
studded with great cities. The Irish baptisteries need not have 
been equally spacious, as, at the time of their erection, this 
country was void of cities, occupied to a considerable extent by 
bogs and forests, and depopulated by ever- recurring wars, and 
even by frequent colonies to Albion and Britain. The Irish 
Round Tower, therefore, like the Irish Church, was erected very 
narrow, yet sufficiently wide for the purposes of a baptistery in 
a sparsely populated district. 

Father S middy works up well his arguments from emblems. 
" In the description," he says, " of the ancient baptisteries, it is 
stated that they generally had an emblem, a figure or image of 
St. John the Baptist, or a lamb. On the Round Tower of 
Brechin is the figure of St. John the Baptist, holding a lamb in 

his arms, a cup in his hands The figures on Brechin 

Round Tower, being an illustration or representation of the 
baptism of Jesus Christ, indicate that this structure was a place 
for baptism." A reed is the conventional emblem of St. John 
the Baptist. Probably it grew in the Jordan where he was bap- 
tizing ; at all events he is contrasted with it in the Gospel, and is 
represented with it in pictures. On this fact Father Smiddy 
grounds an ingenious and original argument. * ' The Irish R ound 
Tower," he says, " is itself an emblem of him" — i.e., St. John 
the Baptist. " In the language of the country it is called a reed 
house, and in form and shape resembles the large reed that grows 



OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 



319 



in the rivers and lakes^of Ireland. . Here, then, in every case, 
is an emblem of the saint, as also of the water. 

Our author had previously pointed out, at page 199, that the 
universal popular name of the Round Tower in Minister, Con- 
naught, and other Irish-speaking parts of Ireland, is cuilcach or 
cuilctheach. This name is formed from cuilc, "a reed," and teach, 
" a house," that is, " the reed-house, or reed-shaped structure. " 
It is strange, that previous to Father Smiddy, no writer gave 
the Irish name of the Round Tower correctly, though there is 
hidden in it so much of meaning. Though resembling cloigtheach 
" a belfry," it is by no means formed from it, that is, by transposing 
the ' T and the vowels ' oi,' for here, in Cork, at all events, the 
tendency of the Irish language, as spoken, is exactly the other 
way. 

It would take long to follow Father Smiddy all through the 
host of proofs he has marshalled to his aid. For the rest 
we refer our readers to his entertaining and original pages. We 
are glad that this discovery of the origin of the Round Tower 
has, most fittingly, been made by an Irish scholar and ecclesiastic. 
And we congratulate him on having inscribed his name for ever 
on his native Round Tower, "monumentum aere perennius." 

We would direct Mr. Smiddy's attention to one or two facts, 
which may have some relation to the piscina, or outlet for the 
water used at baptism. In the lowest chamber of the Round 
Tower at Kinneigh, there is a hole leading to a fissure in the 
rock beneath. And in Betham's " Celtica Etruria," Mr. Edward 
Wall, of Roscrea, who undertook the excavation of the interior 
of the Round Tower of Roscrea in 1842, says: — " At the bot- 
tom we found a bed of clay, in the centre of which was a small 
round hole, about two and a half inches in diameter, into which 
the handle of the shovel was inserted five feet six inches with- 
out any interruption but the mark of water on the handle. 

L.T.C; 



R 



320 



CONCLUSION. 

I AM confident that a final stroke is now given 
to the controversy on the Round Towers. 
Already are the new arguments producing their 
impression on the public mind. Still there are 
impediments in the way of a rapid conviction. 
The subject of the ancient baptisteries, and of 
the early ecclesiastical discipline in connexion 
with them, though sufficiently clear in foreign 
sources, has scarcely a place at all in the his- 
torical or archaeological literature of these 
countries. Baptisteries placed away from the 
churches — the idea is strange to many yet. 
Again, the ancient baptistery, and its accom- 
paniments, do not, altogether, harmonize with 
some peculiar views on the Sacrament of Bap- 
tism. But as the atmosphere becomes clearer, 
the mist surrounding the reed-house will gra- 
dually melt away. Of course, it cannot be 
expected that those who have published or 
adopted fond theories on the Round Towers 
will, all at once, surrender their positions ; for, 
as a Latin poet expresses it, it is not easy 
for one to give up his old love — 

" Difficile est longaim subito deponere amorem.'' 

Catullus. 



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